


Abandoned

by Jastra



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Broken Friendship, Broken Sans, Child Death, Complete, Cruelty, Dark, Dark Sans, Drama, Family, Feels, Frisk wants desperately to get home, Gen, Gender-Neutral Frisk, Past Neutral Route, Possessive Behavior, Possessive Sans, Protective Sans, Reader Is Frisk, Reader-Insert, Sans Has Issues, Spoilers, Unhappy Ending, as does Undyne
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-22
Updated: 2018-04-07
Packaged: 2018-05-08 12:00:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 48,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5496290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jastra/pseuds/Jastra
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Trapped beneath the mount Ebott, you have to endure a life without Papyrus, Toriel and Asgore who have been killed by Flowey.</p><p>The majority of the monsters blame you for what had happened, but at least you still had Sans to protect and take care of you. Only thing was that Sans had become possessive of you after his brother's death and was ready to do anything to keep you by his side, even if meant taking your soul.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Broken

**Author's Note:**

> Another one of those "I'm gonna write a short drabble." and it just gets out of control!

The evening had fallen over the Snowdin village and the usually busy and vibrant town had calmed down with al of the monsters inside their homes, after all, it was past midnight already. Though the village looked beautiful and calm, a feeling of apathy, fear and sadness had fallen over the snowy town.

 

Every monster beneath Mount Ebbot mourned the passing of the king and queen in the hands of that monstrous flower, Flowey, who had captured you and your friends at the barrier when you had shown the kind yet burdened king mercy, choosing to stay in the underground world rather than take the king’s soul. You had wanted no one to get hurt, believing that there was a better way to get out. Ironically, your desire not to hurt the monsters had caused you to completely destroy their dreams and hopes.

In the end you had hurt everyone, especially Sans who no doubt hated you now for sure, even if he denied it. The king and queen were dead because of you…and villagers had even lost a dear and loved friend in the village, Papyrus, who also was now just a pile of dust, scattered by the wind. Flowey had killed him after Toriel and Asgore in order to torture you.

The king had been first for being a weak fool…. then Toriel because she had loved and cared about you; your own “monster mom”. You could still hear the flower’s laugh when he had crushed the Toriel’s and Asgore’s bodies, eventually turning his attention Papyrus. Each time the flower grew bored of your pitiful crying and shocked expression he moved onto the next victim, wanting to hear you beg for their lives.

You sat inside your room that had belonged to the taller brother. Sans had given it to you without a word after you two had returned back into the village with him. But, much to your shock the short and stout skeleton had gathered everything inside Papyrus’ room and thrown them into trash, not wanting to be reminded of his dead brother.

The lamp by the wooden table was the only source of light in the room as you drew pictures of your friends, of those who were still with you and those who were gone forever.

The crayons glide on the paper and you could feel tears forming in your eyes as you gaze upon your work, some o the wet droplets falling onto the paper. You were drawing a picture of Sans, Papyrus, Undyne, Alphys, Toriel and Asgore together, looking happy. They were all people who had cared about you in this forsaken world.

There were days when you wanted to just disappear from the world since none of the monsters looked you the same way anymore; they all blamed you for what had happened and with a good reason. Whenever you were walking in the village, the monsters eyed you with pity, hate, sorrow and grief. Most of them probably didn’t want to feel that way, but they just couldn’t help themselves, and you couldn’t really blame them either. It was so easy to push all the blame on one scapegoat and to be honest; you blamed yourself just as much. No one really talked with you and the other kids didn’t wish to play with you.

All you had was Sans, who took care of you and comforted you silently if you were crying, but even he was very distant.

 _If I had not come into their world, the king and queen and Papyrus would be still alive,_ you think sadly as you pull out the blue crayon and colour San’s jacket on the paper. In the picture he was smiling and looking happy, just the way you wanted to him to be.

But Sans didn’t smile anymore…he hadn’t smiled for weeks. The few attempts he had made when you had brought him something had been pitiful and you felt like the skeleton had completely lost his will to live. It scared you and you had a feeling, that he was only living because of you, and that wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

_I want to see Sans smile again. I want to comfort him, but nothing helps._

You wipe away your tears and finish the drawing, checking it for mistakes and possible improvements. You loved the skeleton, but he scared you now…it was as if the Sans' mind had been swallowed by darkness that wouldn’t let him go and it was swallowing you in as well. It wasn’t that you didn’t mourn your friends, wishing that you could do something to fix this, but you couldn’t just let the hopelessness eat away your soul.

You could still remember the traumatic experience as clear as day. Well, it had happened only weeks ago but still.

 

_The barrier room echoed with the small yellow flower’s laughter as he tortured you, looking truly demonic as he held you and your friends bound with the vines that gradually tightened their hold around your limbs._

_“Isn’t this fun Frisk? I’ve killed that weak fool Asgore and that old hag Toriel,” the flower cackled before cocking his head slightly to the side._ _“Didn’t I say that I’d kill everyone you loved? I really love this game.”_

_There was nothing left of the king or queen who had turned into dust after suffering from gruesome pain. No one could do anything and no matter how much you called for help, Sans, Alphys, Papyrus or Undyne couldn’t do anything but struggle against the vines. And no matter how many times you call for help, none of the other monsters come for your aid._

_“Flowey stop!! Don’t do this, please,” you pleaded, but the flower had just taunted and laughed at you._

_“How amusing, I haven’t had this much fun in ages…wonder who I should kill next? Maybe Sans? He has caused me so many restarts that he really pisses me off…or maybe Alhpys? I want to see Undyne heartbroken before I kill her too,” Flowey inquired maliciously, tightening the vines around your limbs to the point your bones almost broke under the pressure. You whimper weakly and fight to keep back the tears._

 

_Your friends were battling against the constricting vines as well, Sans making some progress along with Undyne, but Alphys and Papyrus were completely powerless._

_“No, don’t hurt anyone else. I beg you Flowey," you beg and whimper pathetically. If you hadn’t tried to set everyone free, this would never have happened. You should just have left this hellhole._

**_‘This is all your fault,’_ ** _the dark voice in the back of your mind says._

_Flowey just laughed and tormented you, clearly enjoying watching you squirm in pain. The yellow demon hummed happily and seemed to reach his decision._

_“Golly, I know, I’m going kill Papyrus next! He is so beloved by you, Sans and Undyne that I can’t resist the need to see your broken and sad expressions when he turns to dust. This is going to be perfect,” the flower giggled insanely before pulling Papyrus forward like he had done with Asgore and Toriel before crushing them to death._

_“What? No…Sans…Human….I…” Papyrus tried to speak when Flowey brought him forward. He was scared, confused. When held before you and his friends, Papyrus finally seemed to fully understand what was going to happen to him and that it would mean that he’d never see Sans again…_

_“No!” you yell, overwhelmed by desperation, doubling your efforts to fight the vines, but the flower just scoffed, almost breaking your arm."_ _Flowey, I beg of you…just kill me and let my friends go. They’ve done nothing to you,” you cry with tears streaming down your face._

_“Golly, I truly love that pathetic look on your face, maybe I’ll load so that I can watch it over and over again…. now look closely as I tear your friends apart one by one.” Flowet purred and you saw Sans fighting the vines even harder, wanting to save his brother._

_“Papyrus! No, let my brother go! I swear if you hurt him I will…” the shorter skeleton yelled in anger and hate, wanting nothing more than to save his only brother._

_You watch in terror as Papyrus grunts and cries out in pain as Flowey slowly starts to apply more pressure, wanting to break and crack his bones. You wish to help him any way possible, but there is nothing you can do. This was all your fault._

_“Don’t cry, human…its going be ok…” Papyrus whispers to you, trying to smile and look brave, but you knew that beneath the tough shell, he was scared beyond anything._

_“Brother!” Sans yelled, voice filled with desperation now, his eye glowing and burning with blue light, wanting to kill the flower and save his brother. But it was too late._

_  
“D…don’t look, Frisk,” you hear Papyrus pleads gently. With trembling lip you nod after a moment of hesitation, closing your eyes before you hear a loud disgusting cracking sound that sickens you down to you core. Everything in the room goes silent and though you can’t see it, you know that your friends were shocked and horrified and that Flowey had killed yet another of your dearest friends._

_The next thing you hear is the sound of Papyrus dispersing into a pile of dust, just like Asgore and Toriel had. Your crying pierces the silence along with Flowey’s insane laughter, but that was cut short by Sans._

_Wanting to ignore everything around you, you wish that Flowey would just tighten the vines around your body enough to break you as well.. It would be better if he just ended it right now._

_“I’m going to kill you, you damn flower…” you suddenly heard Sans’ voice, cold and filled with hate and murderous intent._

_You open your eyes to see the older brother finally managing to summon 2 hound like blaster creatures that destroyed the vines holding him, Alphys and Undyne much to the yellow flower’s terror. The two female monsters hit the ground painfully and try and regain their strength, both watching Sans who acted as if he was possessed by the vengeance itself._

_The air around him was burning with blue flames that only promised painful end to Flowey._

_“Dirty brother killer...” the skeleton hissed and before Flowey could do anything, Sans summoned bones to pierce the small flower before the hound like creatures attacked the small monster, finishing him off with a deadly precision.._

_Alphys was in shock, looking for her glasses that had fallen to the ground and before you can say or do anything, Undyne rushes to her friend and love, picking the glasses from the ground and handing them to the lizard girl before hugging her tightly; at least she still had her. They were both clearly traumatized by the horrible events that had transpired, as were you and Sans as well._

_You look up at Sans, eyes red and your body aching from the Flowey’s attack. The skeleton ignored you at first, walking to the pile of dust left by his brother, picking up the red scarf that was the only thing left of Papyrus. Sans eyed it with black, lightless eyes, the familiar grin slowly dying on his face. The two female monsters turn their heads to look at the pile of dust that was scattered on the foor.. The monsters had lost their king, queen and friend today along with their hopes and dreams._

_Sans hugged the scarf, the only thing that had remained of his brother who was gone forever._

_All you can do sit there in pain, desperate and fearful, having do idea what you should do now. You couldn’t cross the barrier and all the souls had gone and the monsters trapped as well. They would all have to start over._

_Sans finally lifted his gaze up, looking directly at you and your heart skipped a beat. The look in his eyes made you tremble in fear since his expression was completely void of any emotion and for a moment you wondered, if he was going to kill you and cross the barrier so that he could free the rest of his kin. But instead, Sans just walks over to you and picks you up before whispering._

_“Lets go back home.”_

You look through the window and see that it was completely dark outside and the clock on the wall shows that it was nearing 1 am already; clearly past you bedtime, not that anyone cared anymore.

With a soft sigh you get off the chair and pick the picture, wanting to put it on the fridge or something where Sans could see it.

Everyone inside the monster world were lost and didn’t know what to do and for now, everyone just went on with their daily lives, trying to cope with their loss.

Undyne had taken over with Alphys helping her. Humans weren’t welcomed here anymore with exception of you. According to Undyne, the next human who fell down would be killed and the rest of the souls would be collected from the outside. The valiant new Queen would free them all fast. Some even wanted you dead since this was all your fault…then everyone would be freed fast.

 

There would be no way for you to exit if you didn’t kill someone, and that pained you greatly. Everything had gone to hell only because you had wanted to save everyone.

 _I want to go home and see my family again,_ you think, wanting to cry as you recall the faces your loved ones who were waiting for you, wanting and praying for your return. But, you were trapped here with Sans.

 

You can’t remember much what had happened after Sans had killed Flowey. Undyne had probably helped Alphys return home, but you and the older brother had remained there and all you can remember is Sans carrying you back to the Snowdin village; to his and Papyrus’ home. The only thing was, that his younger brother would never be there again.

You hesitate a moment before opening the door to the hall way with the stairs that lead down to the living room. You see light coming from the television in the lower room and you could hear soft, quiet voices that came from the open tv that shone its cold blue light into the otherwise dark room.

Sans was still awake, watching television. Well, more like just sitting on the sofa, not really watching the television, but rather having it open to just have some noise to keep him company.

The skeleton had been completely broken. He had lost a friend, the queen who had shared his love for bad puns and asked him to protect you in the first place, then the king who had been so kind and close to breaking the barrier…and of course, he had lost Papyrus, the only reason he had to live in the first place. Everyone he cared about had died in Flowey’s hands and it was all partly your fault.

You tiptoe over to the railing and look down from the second floor, seeing the blue-jacketed skeleton sitting there on the sofa, wearing his fur lined hood over his head.

 _I wonder if he hates me,_ you can't help but ponder sadly and anxiously, looking at the picture you drew of him and the rest in the dark room. You probably were a constant reminder to everyone of what they had lost and it tore you up inside.

You descend the stairs down as quietly as possible since it was clearly past your bedtime, before thinking, _what's the point? Its not like he cares anyway. No one will ever care about me._ You approach the skeleton who ignores you at first, clearly lost in his thoughts, the red scarf lying on the sofa next to him.

At times you wondered, why Sans had brought you into his home in the first place and given you his brother’s room. 3 weeks had passed since all this had happened and it was clear that Sans had fallen into deep depression and you had no idea how to make him feel better.

You stop next to the sofa and the skeleton lifts his head, turning his eyes to you, looking slightly confused.

“Oh, Frisk…” Sans muttered, noticing that you were holding a piece of paper in your hands. You can see right away that Sans had been lost in his thoughts, ignoring the passage of time completely since he glances at the clock, looking a bit surprised.

You feel hopelessness take hold of your heart when Sans then turns his attention once more to you, trying to smile a bit.

”You know, it is clearly past your bed time, kiddo…you should go back up and get some rest. You can play and draw more tomorrow,” the skeleton scolded you a bit playfully, but the small smile he tried to give you quickly died on his face.

You feel miserable as you eye Sans, wishing to do something to get him better. After a moment of hesitation, you hold up the picture in your small hand “I know, I just really wanted you to see this. I drew it for you,” you whisper and Sans eventually sighs heavily before patting the spot next to him, inviting you to sit with him, but you stand your ground, not really wanting to get close to Sans when he was at this state.

“Sans…I…I’m worried about you.”

The older brother looks at you with pained expression on his face.

“You really should go to bed, Frisk…I’ll be all right…now, show me the picture you drew.” He tried to be more comforting, only now noticing that you had cried a bit prior to this.

You just walk up to your care taker, handing him the picture.

“I thought you’d want to see this…” you murmur sadly as Sans eyes the crayon picture, a hint of forced smile appearing on his face for few seconds before disappearing.

He just stares at the picture, eyes fixated on Papyrus who was smiling in it along with the rest.

You eye the skeleton a bit hopefully hopefully, and give him a hesitant smile, wondering if he liked it and would talk to you now.

“Do you like it, Sans?”

He had been so quiet for weeks now, not doing anything…He did make sure you had everything you needed...keeping you well fed and warm, but otherwise, he either spent all his time in the room or living room, not wanting to talk to anyone.

However, you get startled when the short and stout skeleton suddenly crumbles the drawing violently in his hands and throws it away, looking at you without any emotion, eyes pitch black.

“Don’t…” he warns you, voice cold and angry.

“I…” You whisper fearfully, swallowing a bit as the short skeleton stares at you. Had you angered Sans? All you had wanted to do was to give him a gift.“ I just…I miss Papyrus too. I thought you’d like this,” you continued, shutting up quickly when Sans bares his teeth, almost snarling at you, those dark eyes fixated on you.

“Don’t remind me of my brother, he is gone and we are never going to see him again,” Sans lashed out at you in venomous and bitter tone, clearly getting angry with you. "I don’t need you to remind me of how I will never see him again, Frisk! Now go to bed before I lose my patience...” the short skeleton snapped, turning his attention back to the television with late night news hosted by Mettaton.

You wanted to cry. Sans was being so cruel. You mourned Papyrus’ death too and you were sure your heart hurt as badly as Sans’. Why were you here to begin with? It almost seemed as if Sans hated you now, wanting nothing to do with you.

“If you hate me so much, why not just throw me out? “ you ask quietly, wanting to yell at the skeleton and cry. You had thought about leaving many times, but where would you go? It would be so much easier to just leave altogether if Sans admitted out loud that you reminded him of Papyrus’ death. However, you knew that you had no other place to go, that you’d be out there…alone and cold if the skeleton had not brought you home with him.

None of the monsters wouldn’t wan to have anything to do with you, heck, some of them might even want to kill you for what you had done.

Undyne for one didn’t answer your calls and Alphys too seemed distant. Sans was all you had and even he seemed to hate you.

 

“You aren’t the only one who mourns him, Sans! You don’t talk to me and I’m starting to wonder why I am even here,” you cry out, tears starting to form in your eyes, trying to wipe them away.

When you blurt your words out, Sans’ eyes finally seem to get some life in them as he turns to you, the hood casting an ominous shadow over his face and you notice too late that his left eye was burning with anger.

You take a deep breath, prepared to face the hardships of living on your own, surviving out there without help..

“I really should just leave.”

The next thing you know is that you are pushed onto the floor with tremendous force, making your body hit the floor painfully.

You let out a small whimper when you land on your arm that gets twisted slightly, starting to hurt as you lift yourself slightly up. Knowing that you had had really made Sans mad, you hesitate before looking up, only to see Sans getting off the couch and starting to approach you. While his steps were quite soft, barely making any sound, the short skeleton was looking truly dangerous and scary, making you want to run. _Sans? What’s wrong with him?_ you think fearfully and find yourself backing away on the floor, but the skeleton follows you, clearly wanting to corner you.

“Are you going to leave me too, Frisk?” Sans asked and you feel a chill run down your spine as your back hits the wall behind you. Sans acted as if he was being possessed.

“Tell me, kiddo, where would you go? Hmmm?” the short adult skeleton asked, towering over your small form and you were sure he was going to do something to you.

“Are you going to find some nice monster family who’d take you in after they all lost their king and queen? Don’t be naïve, Frisk,” Sans continued and knelt down before you. You are too shocked to find the words to answer him.

“Oh, are you thinking of running away and killing some monster just to get out of here? Why, that would make you a true monster, kiddo,” Sans hissed, taking hold of your shoulder quite painfully. “Don’t even think I’m going to let that happen.”

 

You tremble in fear. The situation was really scary and made you feel yourself being paralyzed by fear. The room was dark with only the tv giving cold light into the large room and you were backed against the wall with Sans looking half crazed.

“Sans, I’d never do that and you know it! Please…I miss Papyrus as much as you…I…I just don’t know what I should do,” you whimper but your words just make Sans angrier. “I hate it here…I’m going to find a way to get back home some way that doesn’t take anyone’s life, I swear. I just want to go back home to my family, so that I won’t have to burden you anymore,” you say in panic, wanting to get away from Sans who was looming over you, seething in anger.

Sans sneers at your words, clenching his hand into a fist. The mere mention of your family waiting up there makes his blood boil.

“Join the club, kiddo. We’ve been trapped here for ages. I’m sure you can manage one life time with me,” the skeleton grunts angrily before leaning closer. “You know, Frisk, my brother really cared about you and now he is dead, only because a kid like you had to fall down in our world. It’s kinda funny you know….you fall here, befriend all of us and in the end, you tear apart everything we have and take away our hope. The king, queen and my brother are dead just because they all cared about you…” Sans murmured more calmly now, observing your reactions. “Us caring about you made us all targets to that damn flower. And now, we are all stuck here again with no hope of leaving.”

You bite your lip and feel warm tears streaming down your cheeks, it was as you had suspected, he hated you.

“I’m...I’m leaving Sans…I can manage somehow. I will find a way back to my family in a way that won’t hurt anyone,” you whisper, not wanting to live with Sans who clearly blamed you for his brother’s death, just like everyone else, even if he didn’t want to. “I can’t stay with you, Sans.”

You see it coming, but have no time to dodge. Sans’ cold and hard hand slaps you across the face hard with enough force to turn your head to the side.

For a brief moment you can’t feel anything and your mind just tries to process what had happened.

Sans had slapped you with the back of his hand, hard. You look shocked, lifting your hand to touch you cheek, feeling it burning beneath your touch. It stung so badly and you were almost sure it would leave a bruise.

 _Sans hit me,_ isall you can think and you were sure you could taste blood in your mouth. Panic takes over your heart and you start to hyperventilate, feeling a desperate need to get away fast, but before you can do anything , the skeleton grabs you arm painfully, yanking you upwards so that your faces were inches away from each other.

“Don’t make me laugh, Kiddo. You’ll die out there. They’ll rip your limbs off one by one and tear apart your soul…” Sans growled, taking hold of your face with both hands, the sharp and hard fingers digging into your skin as he forced you to look into his eyes that were burning with blue fire.

“I’m not going to allow that to happen. You are the only one I have left, Frisk. I wont lose you to them,” Sans almost purred, tightening his hold on your head. You were scared to death and your whole body was trembling. Sans was crazed and you felt like he was going to hurt you more if you try to get way.

 

“I’ve lost everything, Frisk…I’m not going to lose anyone anymore. I’ll make sure no one will be able to take or harm you…” Sans continues, his hard, bony fingers scratching your cheek as they press into your skin.

You cry out in fear, closing your eyes, wanting to remove yourself from this moment and retreat into your mind

“No! Let go of me Sans, you are hurting me! Someone please help me, I want to go home,” you cry weakly pleading for help and someone to take you back home.

By some miracle, your pleads seems to get through Sans’ madness and he looks shocked and confused, realizing what he was doing to you. The short skeleton suddenly releases you from his hold and you immediately huddle into the corner, hugging your knees and crying weakly and scared.

“I just want to see my mom and dad again.” You whimper pitifully and Sans seemed to have completely snapped out of his insanity and he suddenly looked scared and worried, horrified by what he had done.

“Frisk…I …” the skeleton says when he lets go of you, not sure what he should do now. What he had done was unforgivable, but he had felt as if the rage and fear had overwhelmed him. “Please…Frisk...I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you,” Sans whispered as you shiver and tremble in fear, holding your cheek that stung and burned.

“Stay back, Sans! Don’t hurt me…please I’ll behave. I won’t leave you,” you whimper pathetically, paralyzed by fear and unable to defend yourself when the short skeleton pulls you into a hug. You try to fight against Sans but he holds onto you tightly, not wanting to let you go, clearly fearing that you might disappear from his life as well if he does.

Sans was starting to mentally break down. He hugs you desperately, as if seeking forgiveness. He had kept his feeling inside for weeks and he had finally broken down.

"I'm sorry...I'm sorry I didn't mean to..." Sans whispers desperately, his fingers digging into your clothes as he presses his forehead against yours. "You are all I have Frisk, I’m so sorry that I hurt you, I didn’t mean to do this to you. I swear," he begs you and in the end, it is you who has to comfort Sans.

Despite your fear and sorrow, you place your hand onto Sans’ shoulder, utterly confused and scared of what was going to happen.

 _‘I can’t leave Sans like this. He has lost everything and the monsters in general have lost much more than I have.’_ You think, starting to feel guilty. They were trapped and Sans had lost his family and the king and queen…. you just couldn’t return home yet.

Guess you owed the skeleton?

Sans kept repeating “I’m sorry” like a mantra, not wanting to let go of you.

“I’ll protect you Frisk, no one will hurt you, I promise, as long as you stay with me. We are family now. So please, just don’t leave me!” Sans pleaded, broken and needing you. “I know you miss your family as well, but you are all I have left. You are my family.”

 

You had no idea what to do…but it was clear that you couldn’t leave Sans and after all, he had promised not to hurt you anymore. He had probably not meant to do it. In the first place, right? You were still young and couldn’t quite understand, but it seemed as if you’d have to take care of Sans for a while. He needed you and would do anything to keep even one person at his side.

You wrap your arms around the skeleton and try comforting him, knowing that you both were mourning Papyrus together. You had nowhere else to go and you needed Sans until you’d be able to survive without him, and the skeleton knew it.

You were almost like a prisoner.

 

“Stay with me, Frisk, I promise nothing bad will happen again, I won’t hurt you,” the older brother sighed, but his eyes didn’t stop glowing and he would never have full control of himself again. “I just lost my patience for a brief moment, it won’t happen again.”

You hug the short skeleton unsurely and pat his back, having no idea what you should do. Was it your responsibility to comfort Sans and keep him together?

“So please, just stay with me, Frisk,” Sans continued. “Promise me you won’t leave me.”

You hesitate since Sans was almost hurting you with his hug, however, you finally sigh heavily and nod.

“Ok, Sans…I will stay with you, just…just calm down, please,” you murmur, feeling completely helpless and isolated from the rest of the world.

The skeleton finally loosened his hold onto your small form when he heard you promise not to leave him.

“Thank you Frisk…” Sans sighed, letting you go, ruffling your hair gently before making yet another miserable attempt at smiling. “Now, off to the bed with you. I promise things will be better tomorrow,” the short, blue-jacketed skeleton whispered, caressing your cheek apologetically with his hand. There was going to be bruise there next morning.

 

You had a feeling that whatever darkness had taken control of Sans wouldn’t let go of him easily, but it seemed as if you just had to endure.

“Ok, Sans…I’m sorry,” you murmur, eyes still red from crying and your wholly body was trembling. With that you quickly retreat and climb up the stairs, dashing into Papyrus’ room, locking the door behind you before sitting down and leaning your back against the door, sobbing quietly in fear and utter confusion.

No matter how much you tried, all you could think of was returning to your home and to your family who were missing you dearly.

But, there was no escape for you.

 


	2. Abused

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to kill Frisk's family. *Chara smile* Ok I made Undyne kinda of a bitch here, but I needed someone to be evil :C Next chapter is going to be super long.

You could feel how the villagers stared at you as you made your way through the snowy town and back towards Sans’ home. Despite trying your best to ignore the eyes fixated on your back, the unending attention you got from the grieving villagers really made you anxious, and for a brief moment you almost wished that one would just end your misery. But none of the innocent and normal villagers had the strength or pure desire to harm you and thus, you were left alone but also isolated.

Stop staring at me, you think angrily and shamed as the monsters you pass look at the dark mark on your face Sans had given you few days earlier. No matter how you tried to hide the bruise mark on your face with your hair or shirt, everyone who looked at you could tell that you had been hit.

Perhaps the hardest part to endure was the fact that no one in the Snowdin town had said or done anything about it, as if they thought that what Sans had done to you was acceptable, even deserved. Even an idiot could figure out that the skeleton had struck you and the lack of caring mixed with the of sheer strength of peer pressure made sure, that no one would do or say anything about it. No one would protect you.

Not everything was completely hopeless though. Some of the monsters did seem to take pity you; it was evident in their eyes, but whether they pitied your not didn’t really matter. Nothing could really change what had happened or that no one wanted to help you. Heck, no one had even asked if you were all right.

The only person who had given a damn was Grillby who had given you some treats when you had went there to get something to eat for you and Sans. You could still clearly remember how ashamed you had been when you had walked up to the counter, tying to hide the mark on your face. Grillby had stared you for a long time, and while you couldn’t read his facial expressions, you had a strong feeling that he felt bad for you. The small gesture had made you happier and not lose hope completely, but you were still alone with your little problem involving Sans. The skeleton was the only monster in the underground world who had any desire to interact or talk with you, but his behaviour and actions were unforgivable.

 _Why does Sans have to be this way?_   you thought fearfully, slowing down your steps when you realize that you were getting closer to your destination. Everyone was sad and devastated, but there just was something about Sans that made you worry and fear the skeleton.

Being sad and mourning was understandable. Every monster was feeling pretty hopeless right now, but hopefully things would get better and they’d eventually forgive you, understanding that you had only wanted to help. It had all been Flowey’s fault, but the flower was gone now, killed by Sans.

 _Sans_ , you think, _he isn’t the same anymore_ , it was the conclusion you had come to. There was something wrong and broken inside him and could never be fixed. You wanted to help him somehow, but it was useless. There was nothing you could do.

As you start making your way back towards the house once more, you see the monster kid looking at your curiously, clearly examining the bruise mark on your face before disappearing into the woods. His mother had probably told him not to talk with you which was a shame because you really needed a friend right now.

You lift your hand to touch the bruised cheek that hurt when your fingers brushed against it; Sans had hit you really hard. The one single act had changed the relationship between you two.

 _I don’t want to be alone with him_ , you realize, refusing to take a single step forward even thought the cold air made you shiver.

Sans was now completely swallowed by grief and sorrow and the night few days ago had shown you that he could turn violent fast if he lost control over his emotions. The uncertainty was what scared you the most.

The moment you had met the older brother, you just knew that the he wasn’t being completely honest with that goofy appearance and smile, and now that Papyrus was gone, he had no intentions of keeping that act up anymore.

 _What if I do something wrong again and he gets angry?_ you ponder fearfully, not wanting to be hurt again by Sans who had become so unpredictable. The short and stout skeleton needed you desperately, and even though he often was swallowed by apathy, he always wanted to make sure he knew where you were.

It wasn’t like Sans didn’t let you go out and play, but if you stayed out too long or he didn’t know where you were, he’d come looking for you, and more than once he had been angry, eyes either glowing or completely black, and you weren’t sure which one was worse.

A part of you just wanted to run away and hide somewhere where the skeleton would never find you, but he always did. The only place were you could find some peace was your secret hiding spot in the waterfalls that you had found. It was a small and secluded place with a pond and a bunch echo flowers, the only things who listened to your worries. The place was a small cave with entrance big enough for a small child such as yourself to enter.

 

 _I hate him, I hate what Sans has become_ , you can’t help but think. No one could help Sans and it felt like he didn’t want to be helped. Everything had gone to hell and each day you spent in the underground world broke your spirits a bit more.

The cold wind blows through the area and batters your small body slightly from behind, but it also carries familiar voices with it.

“I don’t know Undyne…I know my research has not provided any results but…killing the humans is still cruel,” you heard Alphys’ familiar voice from behind you and you freeze, looking over your shoulder to see the small lizard woman and the tall Queen hero walking through the snowy area. They probably were checking on the villagers and getting reports from the sentries in the forest area.

The new rule was, that every human would get captured and killed on the spot with the exception of you. No matter how much Undyne and the rest hated you right now, perhaps they still cared about you, knowing you had tried your best even if your good intentions had backfired with devastating results. The two didn’t really visit you or Sans, and to be honest you were pretty sure Sans didn’t want to see the two female monsters either. For the first week, you had tried calling Undyne and Alhpys on your cellphone, but they had never answered. Eventually you had given up trying.

You step aside, prepared to let the two pass, but when the women notice you standing there they stop and look down at you even though you try to ignore them.

“Frisk?” Alphys asks quietly, but Undyne doesn’t say anything and you don’t dare to look up into the warrior woman’s eyes, knowing that she probably hated you more than Sans or the villagers combined. Because of you, her mentor, Asgore was dead along with her best friend Papyrus.

“Undyne…Alhpys, how have you been?” you ask quietly, acknowledging the two while trying to turn your head to a side a bit to hide the bruise Sans had given you.

“Human…” Undyne finally addresses you, her voice dripping with poison and loathing, “we are just passing through, Alphys, no need to get social.” Undyne says, clearly wishing to get quickly out of this situation and back to the capital.

You finally look up at the red haired woman who was staring at you with disinterested and somewhat angry look in her eyes. She quickly spots the dark mark on your cheek and studies it briefly.

You wanted to see some reaction on their face, to see if they cared even a little about you, but there wasn’t even a shred of worry in the Undyne’s eyes. Alphys o n the other hand looked horrified, not being very familiar with violence, but instead of saying anything she just turned her face away, not wanting to look at the hideous bruise your caretaker had given you.

“Oh…I’m sorry frisk..” the royal scientist murmurs, but one glance from Undyne silences the shorter woman, telling her not to feel bad for the human whose fault this all was.

The warrior queen then turns to you once more, addressing you with a small smile and gleaming eyes. You had hoped that the two would still like you and be your friends, but it felt like there was not fixing this relationship. Pure hopelessness takes hold of your soul as you look at the new queen whp was sneering at you; it was that hideous, malicious smile that made her look truly insane.

Undyne didn’t say anything, but you new that she was enjoying the view and she probably thought you deserved all of this. Fighting the urge to cry, you look away, making the tall warrior scoff. You glance at Alphys who look ashamed of herself for being unable to help you in any way. She was one of those who couldn’t go against peer pressure.

“Lets go back to the capital, Alphys, we’ve got plenty of work to do…it was good seeing you Frisk, try to behave….or not, doesn’t really matter to me.” Undyne muttered before heading over to the boat and the cloaked man who’d take her and Alphys to the capital.

The royal scientist quickly follows Undyne, but stops for a moment. She doesn’t turn to you, “Frisk…I’m so sorry…but I can’t help you. Just try enduring, it will eventually get easier,” the small lizard murmured quietly before following Undyne who was getting impatient waiting for her friend and love.

You stand there, not even noticing that it had started to snow lightly. This world was filled with monsters who all hated you or just didn’t want to help you, and up there somewhere, your family was waiting for you. All you wanted was to feel your mother’s arms around you, but even that was too much to ask.

“I can’t take this anymore,” you find yourself whispering, realizing that tears were trailing down your cheeks. Not wanting to be seen by anyone you run away, past the skeleton brothers’ house and towards the waterfalls and your safe hiding place. You couldn’t face Sans or anyone right now.

Making your way to the waterfalls, you ignore every monster who passes you, crashing into few but continuing your way without even stopping to say “sorry”. You run and run, finally making it to you hiding spot where no one would bother you. You crawl through the small entrance into the cave that was filled with echo flowers that were the only one willing to listen to your worries and wishes, never judging you.

The place was near a pond and you could see your face reflecting on the surface of the still, quiet water. Wipe away your teas you look at the flowers around you that shone gently with calm blue light.

“I hate it here. I just want to go home and see my mom and dad and siblings again. I can’t take it anymore,” you cry near the flowers that seem to listen to you, recording your words. You couldn’t’ care less if someone heard your opinions. No matter how much you tried, things just never worked out, it had been the same way back home, but at least back there they didn’t hate you. It was all pointless.

 ** _“I hate it here…”_** they echo quietly. Hearing your own voice echo felt odd, but comforting. You press your fingers against the purple bruise, testing how much it still hurt, wishing that it would just disappear.

 _Why can’t Sans just get a hold of himself and snap out of it,_ you think.

“All I wanted was for everyone to be happy, but my efforts are rewarded with this. No matter what I do, I always get hurt..” You cry, hugging your legs and burying your face against your knees, sobbing quietly. “Please, someone take me home, I can’t live with Sans, I hate him. I’d do anything to get back to my family.”

Trying to calm down and regain control of your emotions was hard, but it slowly started to get easier. “My family is the most important thing to me.”

You lose the track of time, having no idea how long you had stayed among the beautiful yet eerie looking flowers that whispered your wishes and fears every now and then. But, no matter how much you hate the idea of getting back home and facing Sans, you know that the evening was soon falling over the underground world and that the skeleton would get worried sick if you didn’t return to him. In fact, you should have gone right away back there after eating at Grillby’s.

Getting up slowly from the ground, you wipe your eyes completely dry, wishing that they weren’t too red before crawling out of the small cave.

As you walk along the dimly lit paths, you see Sans standing in the distance, waiting for you. Odd, you could be swore that he had not been just a moment ago, as if he had simply appeared there when you had lowered your gaze for a moment. He just stood there on the bank, near the water, staring at you with neutral expression.. He didn’t look mad or angry, but it was sometimes so hard to tell with the older brother.

 _Is he angry me?_ You wonder anxiously. I was pretty late already. Inhaling deeply, you step forwards and him, knowing that this was the only way back towards the village.

Sans’ hands are in the pockets of his jacket and he looks calmly at you as you walk up to him, stopping in front of the short skeleton who was few heads taller than you. After a moment of silence, Sans sighs and looks at his reflection on the surface of the quiet and still water, “I was worried, Frisk…you should have come right away.” He says in scolding manner, but it didn’t sound like he was angry. “I don’t want you running away like this, ok? Bad things could happen to you.”

You nod without a word, knowing that talking back at Sans would probably mean trouble. You didn’t want to get dragged back to the house with another bruise tomorrow.

“I know, I’m sorry, I just…ran into Undyne and Alphys and needed a moment alone,” you admit, twitching slightly when Sans reaches out with his hand to touch your face and cheek in apologetic manner.

“Its ok Frisk…lets just go home…I feel better once I know you are safe,” Sans whispered, but you felt like you weren’t anymore safer with him. The skeleton nods towards the direction of the village and lets you pass, following you after a moment. You don’t see Sans glancing over his shoulder towards your hiding spot with unimpressed look in his eyes. It was a small cave, big enough for a kid to crawl into through the entrance, but…. someone who could teleport could easily get inside.

You stop when you don’t’ hear or feel Sans follow you. _Something is off_ , you wonder and stop. _Is he angry with me?_

“Sans? Something wrong?” you ask unsurely and the skeleton turns to you, having a somewhat hollow look in his eyes.

“Actually…I just remembered that I have to check my post here,” Sans muttered, scratching the back of his head, “Frisk, be a good kid and go on ahead. Put the kettle on…I’ll be back shortly.” he mutters and turns around, heading into the distance and you can’t help but look after him, utterly confused and fearful.

“Sure,” You say even though Sans was too far away to hear you. Something was going on but you couldn’t quite understand what it was.

 

* * *

 

Sans’s expression was stone cold as he walked into the distance and behind a corner before teleporting into your hiding place and among the blue flowers. You had been there only moments ago, whispering and telling them you fears, hopes and dreams, wanting to speak to them since they were the only ones wishing to listen, even if they only repeated what you had said.

The short skeleton’s steps echoed quietly in the cave and among the blue flowers. “So, this is where the kid comes.” He muttered while eyeing the flowers with emotionless look in his eyes, stopping to listen what secrets they could tell him. You had been sure that Sans didn’t know about this place. It was your own secret and safe place. But, then again the monsters had lived down here for centuries and probably knew every area thoroughly.

**_“Please, someone take me home, I can’t live with Sans, I hate him. I’d do anything to get back to my family.”_ **

**_“I hate it here.”_ **

Sans stared at the flower that had said it, echoing with your voice and emotions. The other flowers whisper similar things to the skeleton who just stood there, eyes completely black now.

 _So, this is what Frisk really thinks?_ the skeleton thought as he stared at the small blue flower.

**_“My family is the most important thing to me.”_ **

 

Before the small blue thing can repeat what it had said again, Sans steps on it, crushing it beneath his feet, not wanting to hear another word, but even though the one flower was gone, the rest kept talking. He’d silence every single one of them.

* * *

 

You sigh heavily as you take the water kettle off the stove, pouring the boiling hot water into a teapot. You were getting worried since Sans had gone for a good while now.

 _I hope he isn’t mad with me for running into the waterfalls,_ you think as you carry the tray to the living room, setting it on a small table near the television.

You hear the front door open and close with Sans entering his dark home, the brief cold gust of air making you shiver.

“I made some tea like you asked me to. It is still hot,” you tell the monster, trying to sound positive and happy to make the skeleton feel better, but you quiet down when you see that Sans was merely standing there, looking pained and as if he was hesitating.

“Sans?” you ask fearfully, not liking the way he was looking at you. He was tense and clenching his fists inside the pockets of his jacket.

Finally, he starts walking towards you with sad expression on his face despite having the usual grin.

“Kiddo, I know I said I wouldn’t hurt you anymore, but it looks like I’m pretty lousy at keeping my word. I’m sorry, but I have to do this,” Sans starts and you can feel a shiver run down your spine. “Don’t be afraid, this will only take a moment,” he adds in a calming manner and the alarm bells go off in your mind. He was going to hurt you again or worse.

“No!” you yell, sure that the adult skeleton was going to kill you, but your attempts of trying to run towards the stairs were futile since your body gained a blue aura around it and before you knew it, you were lifted off the ground by Sans who sent you flying across the room and against the painted wall.

All the air gets knocked out of your lungs when you hit the surface of the wall in a single strong impact that almost breaks few of your bones. You gasp for air and yell silently in pain, only to see Sans teleport in front of you, his cold, bony hand finding your throat. Before you knew it, the adult skeleton was holding you up against the wall and strangling you slightly. Crying out in fear and terror, you try to pry the skeleton's hand from your throat to get some air and free yourself, but it was completely useless.

“S..Sans, please I don’t want to die. I’m sorry if I angered you, I promise, I didn’t mean to do anything bad,” you cry out, begging the skeleton to let you go, but oddly enough the Sans didn’t seem angry, if anything he looked as if he wanted to apologize to you.

“I’m sorry Frisk, just try and stay calm for few minutes…I will make everything all right,” Sans whispered to you all affectionately, but beneath that calming, caring tone was anger and maliciousness that was hidden masterfully. He was feeling betrayed by your hurtful thoughts and actions. He had given you everything and this was how you repaid him? Sans wasn't going to let anyone leave him anymore. "This will solve all the problems we have, Frisk. After I'm done with you, you won't ever leave me." 

 _What is he doing?_  you think in panic when the skeleton brings his other hand from his pocket, placing it against your chest, and more importantly over your heart. Pure panic and fear overwhelms your mind when you realize that the white hand started to glow with that same blue light he used with his attacks. Within seconds you saw that red heart of yours appear, like it did when you were fighting monsters. It hovered beautifully in front of you, pure and glowing with energy.

 _Is he taking my soul?_ You think all horrified, starting to struggle as hard as you could to save your life.

“No no no…please, Sans don’t…I…” you sob in fear, trying to push Sans' hands away, but the skeleton merely makes soothing “Shhh,” sounds, slowly starting to gently pull your soul away from your body, using his magic.

“I’m not taking it, I’m merely borrowing it for a moment, Frisk…I know this doesn’t feel nice, but soon enough everything will be fixed,” the short skeleton murmured and you could feel your body weaken every passing second as your heart and soul was being violently ripped out by Sans who kept trying to calm you down, as if taking a soul out was nothing serious or dangerous.

 

“No…” you whisper as your body starts to get stiff and you soon find it impossible to move. It almost felt like Sans had summoned strings that were holding you up like a puppet and was cutting them one by one as he was taking away your soul.

Finally, the short, blue jacketed skeleton moved his hand to grasp the glowing red heart before tearing it from your body single powerful yank. Your eyes widen in fear and shock when you see your beautiful and precious soul leave your body. It was your everything.

When Sans finally takes your soul, he lets go of your physical body fall down onto the floor like some sort of ragdoll, to safely keep your glowing heart with both hands to make sure he could contain it safely. A small, pain filled whimper escapes your lips when fall, but Sans was too occupied keeping your soul safe, to pay any attention to you. A minor physical damage could be easily fixed. However, if something happened to your soul, Sans would never forgive himself.

It felt truly bizarre watching your soul exist outside your body, being held by the skeleton who had a truly mad look in his eyes

 _I can’t move…_ you realize. Without your soul you felt like a puppet whose strings had been completely cut off. You couldn’t move and your consciousness started to slowly fade, but what was perhaps the most disturbing thing was the fact that you could feel Sans touching your soul; your very being.

The skeleton was breathing heavily, staring at the red soul in his hands and he was actually smiling. For a while, he just examined your soul, moving his hands around it as if inspecting it and for brief moment, you feared that the crazed adult monster would crush it in his hand like he had crushed the drawing you had made.

“This way, you can’t leave me anymore,” Sans finally whispers and his hands start glowing more intensely. To your horror and shock, the small red heart starts to turn blue; but it didn’t feel anything like when you had fought with Papyrus.

In a battle against Sans' brother, Papyrus had used the blue gravity attacks, turning the outer layer of your heart blue and thus affecting your physical form…but now Sans was turning it completely blue down to the core so that he didn’t only affect your physical form, but your soul and mind as well. While your body started to go numb, you could feel everything that was happening to your soul. You cringe and cry out weakly when you feel Sans’ cold hands touch your heart, his hard fingers digging slightly in, corrupting and changing it.

Sans focuses all his energy on his work, ignoring your physical form completely as he takes control of your mind and soul. Finally, it was done and your heart was blue inside out.

Sans breathed heavily as he eyed the blue heart that was similar to his own, they were even beating in same rhythm. He finally looks down at you, seeing that you were slowly losing consciousness and shortly after probably your life. The short monster smiles at you, eyes gleaming with blue light as he holds your soul, though you had a feeling it wasn't really yours anymore. You didn't control it anymore.

“Sorry Frisk, here, you can have this back now,” the skeleton almost purred as he knelt down, letting the soul return to its rightful owner, even if it was changed and corrupted. "Good as new. I just made few minor changes to it."

It settles on your body and disappears inside, but even though you had it returned to you, you could still feel San’s presence in you, his power affecting your mind and soul, binding you to his will. You sigh in relief as the feeling and strength returns to your body slowly and your physical form stops dying. However as you find yourself being able to move again, it almost feels like Sans was holding the invisible strings attached to your limbs. He had full control over you. 

The skeleton watches keenly and with obsessive look in his eyes as your breathing starts to calm down and you regain feeling and control over your body, well at least as much control as he’d let you have. It seemed as if what he had done had worked.

 _I feel unclean, filthy. His presence lingers on me,_  you think, traumatized by what had just happened and who could really blame you? Minutes ago Sans had ripped out your soul and corrupted it, taking control of it before returning it to you. You were tainted. Your very being violated.

The short skeleton looks down at you with expecting and excited look on his face and suddenly, you hear a soft whisper in your mind commanding you. You can barely hear it, but it compels you to act and you find it absolutely impossible to disobey the gentle suggestion you hear.

Before you know it, you find yourself getting on your feet and hugging Sans and to your horror whispering, “I’m sorry Sans for running away to the echo flowers, I won’t hurt your feelings again. After all, you are all I have and I've got no one else here.”

Sans had made you say that, wanting to just hear you say those words coming from you, not really caring whether they were sincere or not.

The adult skeleton smiled, wrapping his arms around you and hugging you tightly. “Thanks, Frisk, that is all I wanted to hear.” Sans whispered, sounding almost malicious as he petted your head in comforting manner and you quickly realize that Sans had heard everything you had told the echo flowers. All your hopes and dreams of returning back to the surface had been destroyed with this one act. You were tied to the skeleton now and would never be free to leave or even attempt it.

“I have no reason to live without you, Frisk, and I’m not going to lose you to anyone,” the short skeleton murmurs and in your shock you can’t do anything but tremble, not wanting to believe that someone you had once called a friend had done this to you. Sans had completely lost it.

“Don’t venture outside anymore, kiddo, its dangerous out there,” Sans continued and you knew that you wouldn’t be able to disobey him. He looked exhausted and tired; taking control of your soul had probably been a very draining experience.

The short monster pulls you against his body and sits down, resting against the hard wall with you in his lap, “its easier this way, kiddo. Trust me. You really disappointed me, Frisk, you know that? But I feel like I can forgive you this way,” he said, petting your back and head gently as you cling onto his body and clothing.

No matter how much you tried to break free from Sans’ control, your heart remained blue, keeping you tied to the skeleton who now had all control over your life. While you still were aware of everything and could make your own decisions, Sans controlled you. Heck, if he told you to kill yourself, you’d do it in an instant. In fact, you almost wished he’d command you to do that. Anything would be better than this.

The shorter brother closed his eyes, wanting to just rest for a moment and comfort you, even if it was useless. He knew how great of a sin he had committed, but didn’t seem to care. This was what he wanted and needed, and it wasn't as if anyone was going to care about what was happening to you. He could do anything he wanted to.

While the Sans' jacket felt warm against you, the affection the mentally unstable skeleton was giving you made you sick. All you could feel was hate and disgust towards the monster who had once made you laugh and feel happy. 

Sans’ words and promises were empty and meaningless, being clearly willing to do anything to have the control in this relationship.

“I need you Frisk and I don’t care if you hate me or not, as long as you won’t leave me.” Sans murmurs to you and no matter how much you want to get out of his hold and run upstairs into Papyrus' room, you couldn't. All you can do is rest against Sans, feeling sick and hopeless. People who genuinely cared for each other didn't do this. You had wanted to understand and support your friend, you really had. However grieving and fearing being left alone didn’t give Sans the right to do this to you. He had no right to corrupt your soul like this, violating it in a way.

He really was a monster.

With all your mental strength and what was left of your determination, you break through the skeleton’s control just for few seconds, going against the rules Sans had set on what he wanted to hear from you.

“I hate you, Sans,” You whisper quietly against your caretaker' jacket, barely loud enough for the him to hear you, but you can see San’s eyes glow in the dark with a dark, possessive grin on his face as he looks down at you.

“That doesn’t really matter anymore, does it, Frisk?” Sans asked while holding you possessively, pressing his forehead against yours. “There is nothing you can do about this. You will never reach the surface so stop trying. Kiddo, believe when I tell you that you are good as dead to your family,” the skeleton whispered with a possessive and somewhat malicious look in his eyes. "I'm the only thing you have in this world, so just stop trying and accept this miserable fate."

 

* * *

 

Sans closed his eyes and smiled as he held the small human against clothed body. This was what he wanted and needed, to never left be alone. There weren’t many threats left in the underground world and if someone tried to hurt his human, he’d erase them without hesitation, whether it was Undyne, Alphys or some other monsters. He had hurt Frisk, but this way the small human would be able to go against his will. Sans knew that he’d never find happiness again without his brother, but he was going to damn right hold onto the last thing left in his life with force if necessary.

 _Even if you find a way to reach the surface, I’ll come get you back, Frisk, even if I have to kill all the humans in the world_ , Sans thought, finally drifting into sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, the ending suuuuuucks.


	3. Controlled

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Third chapter :D I keep coming up with new ideas and have to constantly cut my chapters down.  
> Big thanks to Flamour for beta reading this story.

The sounds of heavy, almost painful breathing pierced the utter silence as you tried not to cry or gasp in pain. Standing before a large mirror in a dark and cold room, you stare at the person on the other side of the glass who just glares back at you, mimicking your every movement and expression. The past few weeks had made sure that you could barely recognize your own reflection, but still, despite all the bruises and injuries inflicted upon your body, the person in the mirror was still you.

 _At least Sans can’t take away my identity,_ you think sadly, or at least that was what you hoped for. It was clear as day that your experiences in the underground world had affected you a lot; whether it was for the better or the worst, you could not say. You had been scarred mentally and physically. But the biggest damage had been done to your soul by Sans, who had taken control of it by using his skills to forcibly tear it from you and now each passing day made you feel like you were slowly becoming a shell of your former self.

 _It hurts,_ you think sadly as you stretch your neck and turn your head to see the bruises better. It was truly depressing to see the dark blue injury on your face starting to fade away, with hopes that Sans had slipped just once, only to have the skeleton give you new ones on your neck and arms just few days after that incident. The dark marks were a painful reminder of that horrible night, and touching the almost eerily beautiful pattern on your skin makes you recall the feeling of Sans’ hands there, blocking your airway. The thing was, even though the physical wounds would heal, the damage to your soul would never be repaired, at least not until Sans let go of it.

 It was almost funny that while your physical form looked beaten and hurt, the damage was nothing compared to what Sans had done to your soul. After all, he had forcibly torn your precious and beautiful red soul out, violating and taking control of it before returning the changed and corrupted thing to you. It still hurt like hell and oddly enough, it felt like your soul hadn’t fully returned to you; as if it couldn’t settle back in and could easily slip away from you at any moment. It was a stressful and agonizing feeling.

Your heart, it wasn’t the same anymore. It was blue down to the core and you could constantly feel Sans’ presence in the back of your mind, unable to fight against his will, having to do everything he commanded you to do.

Every time the short and broken skeleton used his power to control your actions, it felt like he was cutting through your heart, making you lose a bit of yourself every time and slowly breaking you with the very real fear of never healing. Heck, you didn’t have any idea if you could ever be free of Sans’ control.

 

 _I can only hope that he will come to his senses eventually…he has to_ , you hope and pray weakly, desperately wanting to see Sans come around and realize the error of his actions. You wanted to believe in him…you really did, but deep inside you, you knew that he had probably lost himself to the hopelessness completely. If anything he was only becoming worse.

With a loud sigh and sniffle you try pulling the collar of your shirt upwards at a poor attempt to hide the marks the skeleton had left on your neck. You could only hope that Sans wouldn’t give you new ones, but the anxious feeling  you had was a clear sign that there would be no promises of that.

 _Why, Sans? Why did he have to do this to me?_ You think desperately and hug your body, trembling as you think what would be in store for you. It almost felt like there was a lump of tar inside your chest, pressing against your heart and the soul that had been stolen from you, slowly killing it.

That night was still fresh in your mind and you had no doubt you would never be free of the traumatizing and horrible memories. You couldn’t describe in words how absolutely terrifying it was to have your soul torn out and corrupted forcibly, your free will taken away from you.

The most sickening and scary thing had been how Sans had acted afterwards, as if what he had done was not a big deal and in fact something he had to do in order to keep you safe.

You had been paralyzed by fear in Sans’ embrace as he had rested for a moment with poor attempts at calming you down, eventually letting you escape to the safety of your room to recover from the ordeal. You had stayed inside for a whole day, just crying and feeling completely devastated, not wanting to see the skeleton who had tried to  persuade you to come out and eat something. When nothing had worked, Sans had used his newfound control over you and forced you to join him at Grillby’s.

 

The other monsters had been shocked when they saw what Sans had done to you, but no one had said anything to the skeleton who had ignored all the looks Grillby, the monster kid and the rest had given him. He kept you close to by either holding your hand, or keeping his hand protectively on your shoulder. He had made it clear that no one was to hurt or help you. Some of the monsters had looked horrified, but some had looked almost relieved as you two had walked through the town. The dangerous human was now on a tight leash so that they wouldn’t be able to hurt anyone else anymore. Sans wasn’t the same anymore and never would be; you could see it now. He was consumed by his madness and would do his all to keep you under his control

 

But the thing was, Sans wasn’t acting completely abusive, not all the time at least, which left you even more confused and scared. One moment he was breaking down and asking for your forgiveness, the other he turned violent, grabbing your arm or neck painfully to make a point clear, not hesitating to do it in front of the villagers anymore. The other day when you two had left Grillby’s , you had given a longing look towards the wooden bridge and the ruins that lied beyond it ,only for the skeleton to grab your arm painfully in front of everyone, dragging you back home despite you telling him that it had hurt. From what you could figure out, certain things seemed to trigger the skeleton, such as anything involving leaving him or mentioning how your family was waiting for you.

 

 _Sans is a monster,_ is all you can think as you feel the bruises on your neck. The utter misery and hopelessness of your situation was truly heart breaking since Sans was the only one you could stay with; you’d give anything to get back home or find shelter from some other monster…but it was clear that the skeleton had no intentions of letting you go.  Sometimes you still hoped that this was just a bad dream and that any moment you’d wake up in your own bed, surrounded by your family, but despite how much you tried to wake up, reset, or load, nothing happened.

 

You wrap your small arms around yourself, trying to stay warm inside the cold house, but the t-shirt and shorts didn’t really give you much warmth.  

 _I just want to go home_ , you can’t help but think, trying to recall your mother’s warm and comforting embrace, but it was all in vain. Recalling the scents of home and the faces of your loved ones had become harder after you had lost your soul momentarily. All you had here was an obsessed skeleton who constantly hurt you, but also whom you were dependant on, and Sans knew it.

You lift your head slightly alarmed when you hear familiar steps outside the room, closing in on the door. You hadn’t even bothered locking it. What was the point when Sans could force you to do his bidding with a few words? There was no safe place left for you anymore.

You do your best to ignore the sound of the door opening and the skeleton walking over to you with his hands inside the pockets of his jacket. You look at him through the reflection of the mirror and you are sure you can spot dark rings beneath his eyes. He probably hadn’t been sleeping much lately. The skeleton stops right behind you and you can almost feel his body touch your back.

“How are you holding up, kiddo?” Sans asks and while he didn’t sound necessarily angry, there was a clear ring of frustration to his voice. When you don’t answer and merely glance at the mirror and his reflection, the skeleton sighs heavily. “Are you still angry with me?” He asks, as if what he had done was not a big deal, clearly ignoring the fact that you were feeling the bruise on your neck and you could still feel his hard and cold hand strangling you.

 

When you don’t answer him., Sans eyes get somewhat of a sad look and he reaches to touch your shoulder with his hand.

“You know I did what I had to, Frisk. This is for the good of the both of us. I can’t let you go…besides, since you can’t leave the underground world anyways, you’ll be safer this way.” Sans whispered, reaching out to pet your head, but before he can touch you, you spun around and lash out at him in pure desperation.

 

“Don’t touch me! Stay away!” You cry out with an attempt to hit the skeleton to keep him away from you, not wanting to be touched by him. “Please, Sans…just go away,” you cry out in fear and anger, only to yelp in pain when he grabs your arm easily in a vice like grip, preventing your hits from reaching him.

“Calm down kiddo…this will do you no good, trust me.” Sans said in a calm manner as he held you still with little effort, but you refuse to listen to his words, trying desperately to get free from his hold and run away if possible. Facing the skeleton was the last thing you wanted in your life right now.  He had violated your soul and hurt you more deeply than anyone else could ever hurt you, and only because he couldn’t endure the idea of you leaving him.

When you refuse to listen to him, Sans tightens his hold on your arm and says in a low, dangerous tone, “Frisk...stop this.” You feel your body calm down against your will and you find yourself unable to hurt or hit Sans anymore. You stand there with your body and arm trembling; ready to give everything you have just to get away from the monster you had previously called a friend.

Sans grinned, “violence rarely solves problems,” he says and finally loosens his grip on your arm, only to gently take your hand into his, starting to lead you towards the door and the stairs that led to the first floor and the living room.

“I thought you could to join me for a moment Frisk…you know, watch television or something. I…I could really use some company right now.” Sans murmured as he led you down stairs and into the living room where the tv was on, showing another quiz show, another program with Mettaton hosting it.

 

Sans’ expression softens a bit when he notices how you had lowered your head slightly and cast your eyes downwards to the floor with a somewhat worried and desperate look in your eyes; he probably thought that you had calmed down and would obey him without question now. He lets go of your hand and gets onto the sofa before beckoning you to join him, “come here, kiddo,” he said, patting the free spot on the sofa next to him, but when you don’t make any attempts to move, the skeleton’s eyes narrowed once more. It was easy to tell that he was disappointed and angry with you for not following his orders, because he lets out a loud sigh and almost instantly you can feel a commanding word in the back of your mind.

**_“Move.”_ **

Feeling filthy and used, you walk over to Sans and sit down next to him, resting your head against his blue jacket.  Being commanded this way was horrible and scary because you had no control over your actions, merely witnessing everything you did as an observer. The skeleton wraps his right arm around your small body, and despite the soft blue clothing feeling warm against you; it is impossible for you to enjoy the warmth it gives you.

You two watch the television together for a moment, a random quiz show with Mettaton hosting it, but it could just as well been static since Sans didn’t seem to pay any attention to it, clearly lost in his thoughts and without even realizing it, he tightens his hold on you every now and then, perhaps going through different possibilities and outcomes that involved losing you.

 _He just wanted to have someone to be with him,_ you think sadly, realizing that Sans couldn’t care less about any quiz show or such.

You tried your all not to enjoy the feeling of the soft, warm fabric against your skin or having Sans’ arm around you, but it did feel slightly comforting in the cold house. Sans hadn’t really noticed or perhaps he just didn’t care about the fact that you were constantly feeling cold; it didn’t affect him since he had no skin.

As you two sat there, watching the bright screen in the dark, you recall the nights you spent with your parents and siblings like this, as a family. Sans was not your family, and would never be, no matter how much the skeleton wanted that.

 _He is completely broken…_ you think bitterly, knowing that someone who had done this to you couldn’t truly love you. Sans had lost all control in his life, losing his brother and friends, along with the possibility of freedom to Flowey. He had been a bit of a nihilist from the start and clearly saw his actions having no effect whatsoever on the world. It was meaningless what he did in the long run. He had completely given up. Living like this was unbearable.

Feeling slightly teary eyed, you bury your face against Sans’ jacket, wanting to hide your expression from the skeleton who just glances down at you with empty expression, stroking your hair gently with his hand. Perhaps he had taken your small gesture as a sign of affection even though you had just wanted to hide your tears.

“See? Things will be alright…you do know I only took your soul because I care about you? I wouldn’t want you to run off and do something desperate or stupid, right?” The skeleton murmured only to make you sniffle and sob slightly against his blue jacket, not wanting any of this. Sans’ cold, hard fingers felt your hair gently as he gazes down at you with slightly more warm look in his eyes now. Moments ago they had been completely void of any emotion,  “there there, Frisk. I know it is hard right now, but I will keep you safe from the other monsters.”

But you knew that the biggest threat remaining in this world to you was Sans. He was slowly killing you and who knew, maybe one day he’d go too far and really end your life.

 

“Please, let go of my soul, Sans...I can’t take it anymore,” you find yourself whispering, unable to keep the grief inside anymore, you grasp his blue jacket in despair. “please, I won’t hate you, leave you in bad terms or do anything to hurt you, so just please…I want to see my family again.” You plead, but Sans just grins, pulling you into his lap and takes hold of your face with both hands.

“You know I can’t do that,“ Sans whispers quietly, starting to sound slightly agitated now, perhaps because you had brought this up again. “I can’t lose you, Frisk, besides, you know that you can’t leave the underground world.” The skeleton murmurs.

 

“If I can’t leave the underground world anyway why did you do this to me, Sans? If you really cared about me, you wouldn’t…you wouldn’t tear my soul out and take control over it.” You sob, “so let go of it, I can’t bear it anymore…. it is my soul, you have no right!” You cry and lift your eyes to meet Sans, only to find them pitch black. “I mourn Papyrus, Toriel and the rest too, but you are just a broken shell, Sans. You’ve completely given up on life, and I can’t help you or fill the void you have in your heart.” Your harsh words almost pierce the air.

“No right?” Sans repeats your words, as if tasting them; clearly not liking the sound of them. ”Frisk…do you know what’d happen to you if you left the safety of this town? What the other, stronger monsters, who might be a little vindictive about what happened, would do? Hmm?” the skeleton asks you in a soft, quiet tone and suddenly the hand that was caressing your head feels threatening.

“I..” you start but are cut off when the Sans grabs a handful of your hair painfully, yanking your head backwards a bit and in the process making you gasp painfully and whimper, “let go!”

Sans cocked his head slightly to the side as he studied you with a dark, empty look on his face. “You are lucky I was the one to take it, Frisk, because the rest would kill you,” the skeleton tells you, leaning slightly closer and lifting his other hand over to your chest like he had done a few nights before.

 _No no no…don’t do it again, please,_ you think fearfully and start trembling, but despite hoping and praying that he’d leave your soul in peace, the skeleton’s fingers start glowing slightly with blue light as he starts pulling your small, now blue soul out.

“No, they wouldn’t just kill you or use it to cross the barrier to get the rest of the human souls,” Sans explained softly, removing your soul slowly to make a point clear, “they’d tear it out of your body and rip it apart, piece by piece until there was nothing left of it,” he continued darkly and soon enough you feel your body stiff and lose all its strength as your beautiful yet eerily glowing soul gets siphoned out by Sans who pulls it from you. The blue soul hovered at the end of his fingertips, looking fragile and weak.

“They wouldn’t even care about preserving it until seven souls were gathered from the humans up there, no…they’d want retribution immediately and what would be harsher that completely erasing your soul from existence?” Sans words were now dripping with poison, his previously gentle and apologetic manner completely gone and you couldn’t tell anymore which mannerism was merely a mask he wore.

“Sans…please..” you whisper weakly as you feel your mind fading away slightly as the skeleton holds your soul outside your body like this.

“See how fragile it is? Even I could easily break and destroy it…like this.” The short skeleton said almost care free, grasping the hovering soul into his hand, to your horror. It felt as if your heart and identity itself was breaking apart as the hard, almost sharp bony fingers digging into it to the point it almost broke. The faces of your loved ones flashed through your mind, but they too started to fade from your memory. The pain was more intense than what you had ever experienced and to you it almost felt like your whole being was being crushed.

 

“Stop it stop it stop it! Sans, please you are killing me.” You cry and desperately hug the skeleton, wanting to make him stop, each passing second making you feel more and more weak and powerless to do anything but writhe in pain.

You weakly touch the skeleton’s arm that holds your soul with pleading look in your eyes. Death didn’t scare you anymore, not as much as your soul being completely erased from existence.

For a moment Sans just keeps his hold on the glowing blue object, eyeing and examining it. It would be so easy to just completely take it, that way you’d always be with him.

However, to your relief, Sans finally sighs and lets go of the blue soul, letting it return to you before you fall unconscious.  Coughing violently and trembling due to the physical and mental trauma, all you can do is rest against Sans who takes hold of your face with both hands, staring into your eyes, “There is no way I’m ever letting go of your soul, kiddo, so you better just get used to it.” Sans finished.

You could see it now, Sans was never going to let you have full control of your life again. You were a prisoner in this underground world, completely under the older brother’s mercy who had obviously been broken by grief, not afraid of hurt you if it meant keeping you with him.

“Humans might have stronger souls than monsters, but they break just as easily. ” Sans murmured as he stared at the television with you resting against him. You try to get away from him but Sans’ eye glows blue for few seconds and in the back of your mind, you hear the words.

“Stay…” and you find it impossible to leave, even though you wanted to be anywhere else than with him.

You had made your decision. No matter what it’d  take, you had to find a way out and free Sans control.

 

 


	4. Gaster

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter! Thanks again to Flamour who beta read this. I'm probably going to take a short hiatus with my undertale fanfics.

A deep, impermeable silence had fallen over Papyrus’ room as you stepped inside it once more, closing the door behind you and locking it even if it didn’t bring you any safety or comfort. You couldn’t control your trembling as you walked over to the desk and chair, trying not to fall onto the floor due to the exhaustion and pain you still felt. Sans had been merciless when he had made his point clear to you. The realization that you were never going to leave this place had finally hit you with full force

 _That’s not Sans anymore, he can’t…he just can’t be like that_ ,  you think as you sit down on the chair and rest your hands on the desk that had once housed the younger brothers’ dear figurines and toys. Sans had thrown away all the small figurines he had given to his brother after his death and the only things that remained there were the pencils and papers you used for drawing. You feared that if you did something wrong, Sans would take them away from you.

 _Mom…help me,_ is the only thing you can think of as you bury your face into your crossed arms on the table, sobbing quietly in utter desperation and fear. You just wanted to go home and leave this nightmare behind you, but no matter how many times you had tried, things had always turned out wrong and now you were stuck with this timeline. Still feeling  sick and weak from what Sans did to you, you try to wipe away your tears and calm down.

It truly felt like you were suffocating and dying slowly inside, fading away little by little with each passing moment. Nothing could keep you safe from Sans’s control anymore and the threat of him never letting go of your soul was very real now.  

Even though you hoped that things wouldn’t get any worse, you knew that there were no guarantees that the older skeleton wouldn’t hurt you again.  Sans had lost himself to the fear of losing everything that mattered to him, with you being one of the last things he could hold onto. It was clear now that he was willing to do anything to have some control over his life. But, the more the skeleton tried to keep you at his side; the more you wanted to return home and to your family. You had finally reached your breaking point and no matter how hard you tried to save everyone, in the end you couldn’t even save yourself from this horrible fate.

 _If I had just killed Asgore, I could have gone home and forgotten all about this_ , you think bitterly and eye the coloured pencils on the table. _If I had ignored Flowey’s words about saving everyone, they would have eventually found the last soul and broken the barrier._

Feeling bitter and hopeless had become very familiar to you, and desperation and sorrow were your constant companions, never leaving your side. It was truly miserable and laughable how the villagers and all of the monsters had found a scapegoat in you, needing someone to blame for all that had occurred. For such a long time the monsters had killed every human that had fallen down in hopes that they’d one day get back to the surface. Then, one day appears a human that they all want to spare and in result they lose their king, queen, friends and all the souls they had collected over the years, so it was just a natural reaction to put all the blame on a human. Everything was humanity’s fault from the beginning. If you had just killed Flowey when you had the chance none of this would have happened.

All you had wanted to do was save every single monster, refusing to leave the underground world until that had happened. But in the end you had ruined everything, losing the ability to reset or load the world. Now, you were stuck with this timeline, unable to reach any sort of happy ending.

As you think about your family and friends waiting for you on the surface, for some reason you can’t quite recall their faces. It was very odd, as if somehow their appearances and voices were just beyond your reach and no matter how much you tried to focus; it felt as if those memories were covered in fog.

You blink a couple of times before reaching out with your small hand to pick up a pencil and a piece of paper. You weren’t much of an artist yet, but you did your best to draw your family, trying to remember every single detail about them, but you soon found it to be hard and frustrating, as if their faces and voices were being erased from your mind.

 _Why can’t I remember my mother’s face_? You think desperately but no matter how much you try to recall, you just can’t remember clearly what she looked like.

Then it hits you, the realization made you feel sick down to your core and fear Sans even more. Having the skeleton pull your soul out of your body had made you forget some details about your life, and if this continued, you’d lose more of yourself. The mere idea of staying in the underground world without the memories prior to that felt horrifying. The suffocating feeling of anxiety overwhelmed you and the threat of losing all memories of your loved ones was very real if this continued.

 _If Sans learns about this, he’ll take everything from me for sure,_ you realize and start almost hyperventilating as the panic overwhelms you _, I can’t be stuck here with Sans without knowing why, I just can’t! He’ll definitely make me forget, just to make me experience it._ Right now, you wanted nothing more than to run and hide from every monster you had encountered so far to protect your shredded and abused soul, but what good it would do? Sans controlled your actions and such behaviour would only make him force the answers out of you. With every restart you had made Sans, Papyrus, Toriel and the rest forget all about you with only the sense of familiarity remaining. Well, perhaps Sans did remember more than he let on, but the point stood.  Now that you were in danger of losing your memories with no hopes of things getting any better, the need to escape this forsaken world became even stronger.

No, you refused to lose your memories. Picking up another piece of white paper, you try to recall your family’s features once more, failing miserably of course. However, the sorrow and sadness were momentarily pushed aside by anger that overwhelmed your soul, the feeling of injustice done to you making your eyes burn with determination, but it wasn’t enough to let you reset or load anything.

 

“Why did it have to turn out like this? All I wanted to do was help others,” you yell angrily and throw the coloured pencil against the window and tear the piece of paper into shreds, not caring if Sans had heard you or not, “no matter what I do, no matter how hard I try, nothing ever works out.”  Letting the small pieces of paper fall onto the floor, you wipe away the tears of anger and sorrow from your eyes, only to hear a soft chuckle pierce the silence that had fallen over the room again. Much to your surprise, the voice came from inside the room, even though the door was locked.

You quickly turn towards the direction where the sound had come from, but you couldn’t see anything. A shiver ran down your spine when you hear the invisible person hum softly, clearly toying with you. Worry for your safety crossed your mind when you realized just how sinister that laugh had been, but at the same time you had a feeling that there wasn’t necessarily threat posed directly towards you, because the person to whom the voice belonged to was clearly amused more than anything,

”Who’s there?” You find yourself asking quietly, and to your surprise, your voice is quite steady, as if you were ready to face any possible danger. Whoever was there couldn’t be worse than Sans.

You see a pair of old scissors on the table, its blade long and slightly rusty, indicating that it had seen better days. No doubt the brothers had found them from the garbage dump, like the majority of the stuff the monsters had. Without a sound you reach out to pick them up and hold the sharp metal object in your hand, ready to defend yourself if necessary from the still invisible threat.

 

“I think it would be polite to show yourself,” you mutter quietly and in a calm manner only to gasp in surprise when after a short moment, a tall, shadowy figure appears out of thin air, dripping with what looked like tar. The monster’s distorted and pale face reminded you a bit of Papyrus and Sans, and the creature had probably been a skeleton at some point, but whatever he was now, he was clearly out of this realm, and for some odd reason you had a feeling that he wasn’t physically there.

The tall monster stared at you with his black and white eyes, a dark, confident and slightly malicious smirk appearing on his face.  The phantom like creature studied you for a moment, wanting to see how you reacted to his presence before slowly approaching you when you didn’t show any strong signs of fear. The stranger finally addressed you directly.

“Poor thing, trapped here for the rest of your life and being controlled by Sans…tsk, I knew that boy would be trouble.” the tall monster laughed softly and you could tell that he didn’t feel bad for you or pity you in any way, ”doing this to a poor little human who just wants to go home,” the man continued.”Unnecessarily cruel, don’t you think?”

  
You take a deep breath and get up from the chair, facing the stranger whose eyes were fixated on you, studying your every move and action, probably trying to determine whether you were worth his time or not.  
”Who are you and why are you here?” You ask as calmly as possible, wanting to at least know the stranger’s name, “I’d find it polite of you to answer that question since you’ve entered my room without permission,” you mutter, trying to sound tough and determined, but in truth, you were confused and slightly scared.

”Your room?” The stranger asks and looks around, clearly noticing now that some of Pap’s old stuff was gone,  “oh yes, Papyrus is quite dead, so I guess this indeed is your room now.” the phantom replied with a dangerous smile only to shrug slightly, ”W.D Gaster, the royal scientist before Alphys,” the monster finally introduced himself to you.

“I’m Frisk, but I suspect you already know that…” You reply and Gaster nods with a leer on his pale face that made his eyes narrow slightly. He clearly appreciated that his time wasn’t being wasted, ”it is most amusing to finally meet you Frisk, I’ve watched you with great interest,” the monster says to you. Despite his malicious appearance and manners, he didn’t seem to pose a threat to you.

”I’m not sure if I’m happy to hear that. Having a scary ghost monster watch me without my knowledge is an unpleasant idea,” you reply and look up at the monster who cocked his head slightly to the side, clearly entertained by your words. Biting your lip you cast your eyes down, “are you here to kill me?” you ask after a moment of hesitation.

The man laughs quietly and shakes his head, ”no, dear child, that’d be rude of me, not to mention utterly boring, no…I hope you don’t mind me saying this, but I do find your struggle most interesting and it has helped me to kill boredom and time.”

You had a feeling that you disliked Gaster more and more each passing moment, ”truly? Well, I’m glad my suffering provides amusement to someone,” you say sarcastically at the stranger who eyes you like you were nothing compared to him.

”My my, for a child you are quite quick-witted, how very cute.” Gaster mocked you and approached you slowly, “I have a question for you, child, and I’d like you to answer it truthfully. I’ve seen you try your all, restarting over and over again to reach a happy ending and now I find you stuck like this. So, I wondered to myself _”why doesn’t the kid just restart and try again?”_ I was so curious to see what’d happen too, if you were going to kill the flower or not, but alas, Sans destroyed that murderous thing and now you are stuck with him.”

 

You bite your tongue slightly, not liking the answer you were going to give this man, but it was time for you to admit it to yourself. For so long, you had tried your all, learning what the monsters were like and how to spare everyone. It was laughable how you had ended up like this even after everything you had done in order to obtain a happy ending for everyone.

”I can’t anymore…for some reason I just can’t summon the power to restart or load.” You admit to the ex royal scientist whose curious expression died the moment he got his answer and he looked now utterly disinterested and bored with you. He probably had hoped for a more complicated reason.

”Figures, witnessing your friends getting slaughtered by the flower probably did a number on your determination,” Gaster mutters and seems to forget your presence for a moment as he thinks your answer through. The ex-royal scientist closes his eyes and sighs, only to glance away, “how boring, and I had hoped there was some interesting and grand reason for you to endure all of this.”

”I certainly don’t feel determined,” you confess but can’t help but feel curious about the creature who had been observing you, ”how do you know about my ability? No one else seems to remember anything.”

Gaster glances at you and smiles a bit, ”well, after my accident, I exist outside your time and space, so I can observe everything, but I can’t really affect the physical world. So, even if I wanted to hurt you, I wouldn’t be able to. Unless I spent a lot of my energy to manifest myself in the physical realm.”

You stare at the ghostly being unsurely and it was clear that trusting the malicious looking monster could be a mistake, “words can hurt too, you know. I’m surprised that you can even talk with me.”

For a moment, Gaster seems actually amused by your words and sighs, ”indeed, but this takes a lot from me. The other humans were so boring, dying way too quickly, but you…you really had something, but now it’s gone.” The scientist mutters and looks like he was thinking about leaving you to your misery.

”What a pitiful and poor thing you are, losing your soul to Sans who treats you so badly,” the monster says while eyeing and clearly judging you, as if trying to determine if you had the guts to do something. Finally, the tall monster smiles dangerously and leans downwards so that his face was almost on same level as yours.

“But there is a way for you to break the hold he has over you and return home,” The scientist says quietly, voice barely more than a whisper. There was a dark, hollow look in his black and white eyes that told you that whatever the way was, it wasn’t going to be pleasant and would take a lot from you.

You had a feeling that the cost of freedom from both Sans and the underground world would be a hefty one, but you were willing to listen to it despite being suspicious.

“You’ll help me?” You ask a bit hopefully, but the monster crushes your hopes with a creepy grin and slightly gleaming eyes.

“Help you directly? No, I wouldn’t do that, but I can give you hints, means to help yourself if you are strong enough,” the ghostly being replied, focusing on the scissors you held in your hand, as if they were a key element.  You waited as Gaster studied you long and hard, valuing you before finally reaching his decision.

“Yes, I think that would kill the dullness in my life momentarily. Watching this small play between you and Sans has been interesting, but I do feel like it needs a proper ending. This has been dragged on for far too long,” Gaster laughs, as if your miserable and tortured life was just a show for him.

 

“Go ahead, no harm for me to hear it.” You say impatiently and the scientist just nods approvingly.

“If you acquired a monster’s soul or two, the connection between you and Sans would be broken and you’d have enough strength to return back home.” The scientist says and even though you had suspected that to be the solution, you still felt sick and horrified.

“It always comes back to killing, doesn’t it?” You ask sadly as Gaster straightens his back and looks disinterested, “it’s how this world works, kid. Kill or be killed. “

“But I can’t be happy if they hate me…I wouldn’t be able to live with myself. Gaster, the monsters in this world already loathe me and hate my guts.” You start, but the tall skeletal monster just scoffs.

“That really isn’t my problem, Frisk, but listen….if they already hate you, what’s the problem? Doesn’t matter if they hate you a bit more if you are safe with the family you so miss. Even Sans can’t hurt you if you make it out of this world because he can’t cross the barrier.” Gaster whispers to you, promising safety and happiness if you were strong enough to escape.

“But, what if another human falls down here and Sans takes their soul? He’d be able to cross the barrier and come after me,” you ask quietly, but you get no compassion from the phantom like monster.

“Then I suggest you move far away with your family. I’ve heard there are billions of people up there, so I’m sure a resourceful child like you can hide among so many souls,” Gaster replies, “besides, it could take years for another child to fall in here, perhaps he will forgive you in that time, but I wouldn’t count on it,” the scientist continues in dangerous tone.

“You can either live the rest of your life with the monsters who hate you and Sans who has already hurt you so much,” Gaster went on with a cruel smile on his face, “or accept living with a couple of murders and getting back home where no one will judge or believe you even if you told them about monsters. You’d go unpunished and judged, Frisk. Sure the monsters here would hate you and want you to pay for your crimes, but if you make it past the barrier, there is nothing Sans or anyone can do.”

That was the catch wasn’t it? You’d have to kill someone and make it out of the underground world. It would be bad and if you were caught, you’d certainly be killed…if Sans allowed it. In fact, getting killed was probably the most favourable option.  You didn’t even want to think of what Sans would do to you if he wanted to keep you with him.

 _I’m not strong enough to kill Sans,_ you realize, knowing that the skeleton would be too strong for you and because of his commands, you couldn’t hit or hurt him anyways. It’d have to be someone else from the village. You couldn’t venture away from it so the soul that would break Sans’ control over you would have to come from one of them.

“This is all a big gamble, what do you get out of this, Gaster?” You ask from the monster who merely smirks and chuckles quietly.

“Why, amusement of course, my dear child. Watching Sans lose himself and hurt those around him certainly has its appeal, but I thought it’d be fair to give you few hints about how to take control of your life once more. In either case, I will certainly be entertained for a good amount of time. Watching time and events pass by is the only thing I have left, and I’d prefer it being interesting, and you, my dear Frisk, are the most entertaining thing that has happened in a while here,” Gaster replies.

“I don’t exist for your amusement!” you say defiantly but the monster just laughs at you, his tone clearly telling you that it was so.

“Oh but you are, all of you exist purely for my pleasure and amusement, dear human. I don’t care what happens to you, as long as you provide an interesting show to me, and I have a strong feeling watching you and Sans settle this permanently would be interesting.” Gaster finishes before reaching out to caress your cheek with his hand that he momentarily materialized, “It’s a gamble and a test of your resolve. If you are strong enough, you will regain your freedom at great cost, but if you fail, you will end up in a living hell. Of course, you can ignore the choices I’ve given you and remain as you are, hoping that Sans would regain his sanity, but even I know that’s hopeless,” With that, Gaster disappeared into the void, his laugh ringing in your mind for a good while after he was gone.

You want to scream and yell, to hurt someone or yourself, but you can’t bring yourself to do it. All of the possible choices were horrible, but you felt like you wouldn’t be able to take Sans’s actions much longer. Perhaps it was just best to accept the weight of the sin of killing someone and make a gamble and desperate escape attempt rather than live with the skeleton who was turning worse each passing day.

Gaster was right. They all hated you already and it wouldn’t matter if they hated you a bit more as long as you were safe.

With a heavy sigh, you look down at the scissors in your hand. They seemed sharp enough to do the job.

 


	5. Freed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone asked for an update and I decided that I'm going to finish my damn Undertale stories. Determination!

Your grip on the pair of slightly rusty metal scissors tightens as you approach the stairways that led down to the living room where Sans was.

It was late evening in the underground world and the Snowdin village had quieted down a good while ago. To you, it felt as if melancholy and hopelessness had tightened their hold on every monster to a point the whole town was drowning in sorrow.

All of the adults were so cold towards you now, showing that you were no longer a welcome guest among the monster. You lived because Sans wanted it, and because Undyne allowed it...not that she could do anything with Sans protecting you. She'd be torn into pieces and turned to dust for sure if she tried to hurt you. The older skeleton was unhinged and ready to do anything to have control over everything.

 _I wonder, does Undyne have any affection towards me anymore,_ you wonder as your thoughts travel to the captain of the guard who had turned so cold and cruel. She had vowed to kill the first human who'd fall down after you.

 _She is better off hating me because then it won't hurt her so much,_ you ponder. Your mind was set to make the gamble Gaster had presented to you. It was cruel, a slap to everyone's face. Yet, you knew you had to try, else you'd never see your family again. You'd forget them. Sans would definitely make it so.

You swallow and can feel your hands becoming sweaty as you keep doubting yourself for a moment. Maybe it was best to just endure and suffer so that nothing would change, but you knew that if you let this continue, things would only get worse for you. There was no other option...this was the only way you'd get home and see your family again.

If Sans learned what effect his soul tearing had on your mind, he'd certainly take all the memories you had of the surface world to make it so you'd never want to leave, because you wouldn't know about your loved ones that still waited for you up there. Pearls of cold sweat form on your brow and you grit your teeth slightly.

_Gaster is right. What does it matter if the monsters hate me even more? They are trapped here, unable to hurt me or reach me. And even if they get to the surface, Sans will never find me or hurt me again. I have to make the gamble, and I have to succeed._

You didn't even want to think what would happen if you failed and got caught after murdering some monster.

A part of you still loved Sans who had been such a good friend, but it was clear that he was merely a shadow of his former self...a twisted and corrupted version of Sans you had learned to know. He was unhinged, dangerous and scary.

 _I want to go home. I don't want stay here anymore...._ The thought kept repeating in your head as you try hard to recall the faces of your loved ones. It was terrifying to realize that no one would help you and that you'd have to take control of your own fate. _I hate Sans...I hate him for what he has done to me._

Your whole body trembles and the rusty scissors almost slip from your hands and onto the wooden floor. Swallowing heavily, you take hold of the metal blades with both hands to still the trembling and shaking. You inhale deeply and exhale, trying to calm down even though your heart was racing and adrenaline coursing through your veins.

 _I can't let him take my family away from me. I will not stay here, not knowing what I've lost,_ you think sadly as you pocket the scissors and pull your shirt over them to hide the handle.

You could feel Gaster's malicious presence behind you, but when you turned your head, there was no one to be seen. He was watching and provoking you. This was all a show to him and the ending didn't matter as long as it was entertaining. Perhaps he wanted Sans to catch you before you'd make it to the barrier just to see you suffer.

_It will be alright, I just have to make it past the barrier and things will be ok. No one will know what I've done. This will all be just a bad dream, nothing more. I will never see Sans again._

The television was on as usual to fill the silence Sans had come to loathe. The large house was so quiet without Papyrus and Sans didn't seem to be able to endure it. He'd never hear his brother's voice again. You were all he had left...which made this all even more painful.

After what felt like an eternity, you take a deep breath and start descending down the stairs to see Sans on the couch. His eyes are closed and he seems to be asleep, a rare sight these days for sure

The black lines beneath his eyes were evidence enough of severe sleep deprivation. Whenever you rested with him, the older....and now the only brother saw terrible nightmares that caused him to wake up with his left eye glowing brightly. More than once he had grabbed your arm hard when you had tried to calm him down, only to eventually realize it was you and release his hold. The most recent bruise on your wrist was still healing.

As always, Sans would shrug off his reactions as one time thing that wouldn't repeat. He'd hug you tightly and apologize just like he had when he had first lost control, but you knew by now that they were empty promises. Sans was not in control over himself anymore.

You stop midway down the stairs and lean against the railing with worried and anxious look in your eyes. There was no way you could hurt Sans and it was probably impossible due to the hold he had over your soul. The skeleton would no doubt stop you before the blades would even reach his form.

He'd no doubt be shocked, but that shock would quickly turn into rage and then you'd be in trouble. He probably wouldn't kill you, but you had a feeling you'd end up wishing it. As a punishment he'd no doubt defile your soul to the point you'd have no free will left.

_I don't want to end up as a puppet he can just take care of._

The plan with best chances of success was to kill some unsuspecting, and unfortunately completely innocent monster from the Snowdin village and escape when Sans connection to your soul was broken. You could only pray that one life was enough to break you free completely and help you pass through the barrier...but it probably was not. If you recalled things correctly, only a soul of a powerful monster could carry you across it.

Problem was, there weren't that many left of them. Sans, Undyne, Alphys, Mettaton and probably Muffet. Of course, that brought you another problem; which one would you be able to kill?

 _I don't want to kill anyone or cause more sorrow,_ you ponder desperately and almost go back up and into your room, but you knew you had to do this. You had to make the gamble if you wanted to see your family again and escape this nightmare.

You watched the skeleton lie motionlessly on the sofa and your heart was gripped with fear. _Sans, I wish things would be different_ , you think as you watch the sleeping skeleton _. I cannot live like this anymore...I want to go home and to see my family again._ This couldn't continue, you just couldn't bear the pain anymore. The villagers hated you and while they weren't going to kill you, they refused to do anything to help you.

Undyne too had become unstable as well, hating humans and finding your treatment to be a just punishment. She no longer saw a child, just a dangerous human. Humans were responsible for their banishment in the first place...and now human was responsible for the deaths of many because they had shown mercy when they probably shouldn't have.

Perhaps the most ironic thing was that the monster who had sworn to take care of you and protect you was probably the worst of them all. Sans had become so selfish, cruel, unhinged and was beyond all hope of saving. As much as you hated to admit it, a part of you wished Flowey had killed him instead of Papyrus who'd never ever do this to you. What Sans had done to your soul was unforgivable.

You sniffle and fight the tears as you recall Papyrus whose optimism had not faltered even when he had faced his death. “I wish you were here.”

But, he wasn't, his older brother was.

"Sans..." you finally call the skeleton's name and he shifts on the sofa, clearly stirred from his restless sleep. You try to calm your nerves and put on a normal face before descending all the way down.

You couldn't believe that you had finally found the resolve to try and escape your cruel fate, even if the cost of your freedom was high and the act heinous.

 _I have to kill someone, to take a life to save my own_. The thought kept repeating in your mind and you slowly started to accept it as you only option. Of course you could very well fail in your attempt and find yourself in living hell or worse, but you'd have to try in order to see your family again.

 _All I wanted to do was help others,_ you think sadly as you descend the stairs. _Nothing I do helps or fixes anything. The monsters don't even see me anymore. They don't want to help me._

Gaster was right after all. They all hated you already, so what did it matter if they loathed you a bit more? Let them pour all their hatred onto you! If you did make it out of this world, they wouldn't be able to follow you. Sans nor Undyne would not hurt you ever again.

"Oh hi, what is it kiddo?" Sans asks and yawns when you approach him with quiet steps, your eyes down cast. One glance at him shows that he is trying to smile but it is forced and fake.

You bite your tongue slightly, wondering if you should just attempt to end Sans' life here and now...after all, he was the one doing this to you, the very source of your pain and misery. You hated him from the bottom of your heart, hated what he had become. He was so malicious and cruel to you now and no matter what you tried to do to help, he always lashed out and took his anger out on you. 

You mourned the passing of your friends too, but Sans was clearly completely broken and had started to hurt those around him, mainly you. He was possessive of you, fearing that you'd leave him. There seemed to be no end to this torment and each passing day Sans seemed to get worse.

 _I don't want to kill someone who doesn't deserve it, but I'm not strong enough to end Sans' life,_ you think sadly, but the fear of never seeing your family and forgetting the completely strengthened your resolve and determination. _I'm going back home...no matter what._

You walked over to Sans who eyed you with an unreadable expression on his face, before patting a spot on the sofa next to him. You are quick to oblige, having little desire to have him command you. Each time the skeleton used his power over your soul, it felt like he was digging his cold white bone fingers into your mind. It was uncomfortable, painful and terrifying feeling.

You could only hope that the way you had been avoiding the skeleton for the past few days would make him more willing to hear your request, but with Sans being completely unhinged, it seemed improbable.

With shaky and weak legs you get on the sofa and for a moment the two of you stare at the television that fills the silence between you. It was yet another Mettaton show and you almost say “Papyrus loved to watch Mettaton,” only to close your mouth, not wanting to face the older brother's wrath yet again.

Fear gripped your heart as you sat down next to Sans. While he seemed normal now, you knew that he could easily be pushed off the edge. Beneath that calm mask swirled madness, desperation and pure chaos.

The anxiety you felt was suffocating.

“Shouldn't you be in bed Frisk? It is late already you know,” Sans asks quietly and you can feel his gaze on you.

Finally you swallow and turn to face Sans with few beads of cold sweat formed on your brow. You had never felt this nervous in your life. The cold metal handle of the scissors presses against your back underneath the shirt, reminding you of what you were going to do.

Without a word, you hug the skeleton and bury your face against his soft and warm blue jacket.-hugs Sans who sighs and pets Frisk's head

"Can I go play outside for a moment Sans? Please? I don't feel sleepy at all yet," you ask quietly and meekly, wanting to keep your distance from the skeleton whose neutral expression turns bitter and cold in an instant, even if he tries to hide it. “It snowed last night and I'd love to play outside, even for a short while.”

"I dunno kiddo, its pretty dangerous out there with all the monsters who dislike you so much. Why don't you watch tv with me instead," Sans replies quietly with a sigh as he pets you in comforting manner.

He did seem slightly surprised by your sudden gesture of affection, but after the days of avoidance from you, he seemed to welcome it.

The skeleton lets his head fall once more against the back of the sofa to just stare at the ceiling with a bored and empty look on his face. “Who'd you play with anyways? Last time I checked, you and the villagers weren't close,” he adds in somewhat venomous and cruel tone. His words cut deep and almost made you cry. He was really drilling in the fact that he was the only one you had in this cruel underground world.

“Please, Sans,” you plead in truly heartbreaking manner as you clutch his jacket with your hands. “Just for a while.”

“It's not so bad, after all I'll always be here for you, to keep you safe and take care of you,” Sans continued quietly as he caressed your head in comforting manner, ignoring your pleads. You couldn't see it with your face buried against his jacket, but the skeleton looked truly unhinged with a creepy and malicious grin on his face.

"I won't go far. I'll stay in the forest near the house ok? I want to build a snowman or something. I'm...I'm just so sick of being inside," you try desperately to persuade the skeleton who merely tilts his head to consider your words. He sighs heavily and lets his bony fingers rake through your thick dark hair, only to flick your forehead with them in a way that made you flinch, as if to tell you to get rid of such stupid ideas.

“No,” was the only answer you get and Sans tightens his hold on you.

You finally look up at the skeleton and you swallow as the suffocating feeling grows stronger.

The way Sans was smiling at you made your skin crawl. It was clearly a strained smile and his black and white eyes were filled with possessiveness and madness with a hint of maliciousness. He was staring you down and you could feel your soul ache a bit. You had a feeling he blamed you for the deaths, but also wanted to protect and take care of you. This was madness.

“Why not? It is perfectly safe out there, and I won't go far!” you try once more, wishing and begging for Sans to recover from his madness even for a moment. What you were about to do would certainly make him even worse and should he catch you during your escape...well...you didn't even want to think about it.

“Because I said so, it is not safe for you outside, Frisk...why is it so hard for you to understand?” Sans insisted, starting to look slightly angry now. His eyes narrowed ever so slightly and his left eye started to glow in an eerie manner, making you swallow and tremble.

You could only pray that he wouldn't pull your soul out. If he did, you'd certainly lose even more memories of your loved ones.

The scissors felt heavy in your pocket and the thought of attempting to kill Sans crossed your mind, but he'd see if you tried to take the blades.

The skeleton's usual grin was more of a sneer now and there seemed to be nothing friendly about it.

“I'm sure no one will hurt me, not with you in the town,” you try, wanting nothing more than to just run outside and escape into the wilderness or waterfalls, but you couldn't due to the hold Sans had over your soul.

“You will not go through that door, do you understand me Frisk?” Sans growled, grasping your chin to force you to look directly into his eyes. “It is not safe and you know it! Do I have to remind you what the other monsters would do to you?”

 _No, please don't._  
“But, Undyne said I'd be protected, Sans, ” you try to reason, even when it was clear that Sans was beyond logic and reason. His actions were directed by fear, delusions and desperate need to not be alone. You try to hug him again, but all skeleton does is grab your arm painfully, making you whimper slightly in pain. His grip was vice like.

“Just how stupid can you be, Frisk?! Do you really think all the other monsters would respect her wish? Doesn't she hate you as well? Would someone like Undyne or Alphys really care if something happened to you, Frisk?” Sans asked, not even trying to hide his maliciousness. “You will not go through that door, understand?”

It was clear that he didn't trust Undyne, seeing an enemy in her as well.

Sans was holding your arm so tightly that you were sure it was going to break.

“I'm sorry Sans, I didn't mean to upset you. I just want to go outside for a moment and play,” you plead and can feel hot warm tears trailing down your face. Even though you had decided to do a hideous crime, the way Sans acted still hurt.

The older brother expression softens a bit and he releases his hold on your arm, only to wrap his arms around you to hold you close so that your small form presses against his blue jacket, the fur lining of his hood tickling your forehead slightly.

“Hey calm down, don't cry Frisk. It isn't all bad. I'm here to protect you from all the threats.”

“Please Sans, just for a moment. I'll just walk to the waterfalls and back and build a small snowdog. As you said where else could I go?” you try one last time when he seemed to have calmed down a bit. “I promise not to ask for anything else for a while.” _Or ever._ “I... I won't even bring up my family again. What's the point when I can never see them again anyways.”

You tried to choose words that would appeal to him.

Sans looks at you and pats your back in comforting manner as he actually mulls over his choices and your words. For a moment, clarity seemed to reach Sans and he sighed, his grin was gone and he looked somewhat vexed.

“Please?” You whisper quietly as the two of you look at each other. “You are the only one willing to take care of me. The only one I have left. My only family.”

 _Gaster must be laughing somewhere,_ you think as you try to manipulate Sans. _This is exactly what he wanted._

“Fine, but after that you go straight to bed, Frisk,” the skeleton finally mutters and you can feel your heart leap.

“Thank you Sans,” you say, almost choking on the words. If things went well, this was the last time you'd see him. You knew that what you were about to do was unforgivable and that it would cause the whole underground world pain...Sans especially. No doubt he'd be enraged and swallowed by madness completely.

“Sans...” you whisper sorrowfully, wishing that things would not have to be like this.  
“Yeah?” the skeleton asks as he pets you in comforting manner. He could be so kind when he wanted to be. Perhaps things could have turned out differently if the monster community did not act the way they did and Sans had not hurt you in such a cruel manner.

They had driven you to this decision....you were not at fault.

“I'm sorry for everything that has happened...I really wish thins would have turned differently,” you whisper and think, _and I'm sorry for what is going to happen._

Sans gives you a long and somewhat empty look but remains silent. It was evidence enough that he was blaming you _._

_Perhaps it is only fitting that he won't say that it wasn't my fault. This way...it won't hurt so much._

“Here, put this on,” Sans says as he takes Papyrus' old scarf from his pocket and gently wraps it around your neck and shoulders. “Keeps you warm.

“I'll be back shortly,” you say with a small smile as you get off the sofa and walk towards the door, knowing that it had been the biggest lie you had ever told anyone.

 

* * *

 

 _I'm out!_ is all you can think of when you finally close the door behind you. Your heart starts to race as you start to take steps towards the Waterfalls. When you realize that there is no one around, you start running and head towards the woods to avoid curious eyes.

If Sans caught you now during your escape, it would certainly be the end. He'd tear your soul into shreds so that you'd forget your family and friends who waited for your return up there.

 _I won't let that happen,_ _I will see my mother's face again....no matter what it takes_ , you think desperately, knowing the horrible deed you'd have to do.

With tears forming in your eyes, you rush towards the direction of the waterfalls, the caves looming in the distance. You stay near the forest for cover, but you could still feel Sans' hold on your soul. You didn't have much time because the skeleton would no doubt get worried after a while. All he needed to do was to teleport to you and it would be an easy feat with your souls connected. You'd have to kill someone and fast if you wanted to stay free and escape this nightmare.

The relentless and freezing wind and snow battered your small form as you hurried forward and made your way through the snow. The metal blades inside your pocket felt heavy and cold, serving as a constant reminder what you had to do.

 _Can I really do this? Can I kill someone?_ The thoughts kept tormenting you and in the back of your mind you could hear Gaster's mocking words and tone. He was no doubt watching even now., wanting to see this little play reach its conclusion. 

With each step the desperation and uncertainty grew within your soul. Could you really be so selfish? Your mind and soul were in turmoil. You had never wanted to hurt anyone, choosing to take punches rather than give them, but...you couldn't live like this, live with Sans who only hurt you. Papyrus' scarf feels so warm and comforting around your neck and shoulders, reminding of the kindness of the younger brother.

"When I fell, I promised myself not to hurt anyone," you murmur and grasp the red fabric. "Papyrus, you shouldn't have believed in me."

Your steps come to a halt when the inner turmoil overwhelms you. The anxiety and fear you felt were paralyzing and you find yourself gasping for air and fighting the tears. Now that you were out, you'd have to find someone and actually kill them. It had been the plan from the start but now that you'd have to commit to it...it felt impossible.

“I don't want to kill anyone,” you whisper in desperation as you sit down against a large pine tree that was covered in snow to shield yourself from the biting wind for a moment, “but I don't want to stay with Sans either,” you cry, knowing that nothing would save you from the skeleton. "No one helps me."

No one else wanted to take you in, and if they did, Sans would probably do something really bad. You had to succeed because if you didn't you'd truly be a murderer to the monsters. They'd definitely kill you.

“I want my mom,” you cry in absolutely heart breaking manner and hug your legs. While you could no longer remember the faces of your loved ones, you could recall their warm embraces, words and love. You were ready to give anything to get back up there.

You cry and sob for a moment, struggling with the dire decision. Without the power to restart or load, you would not be able to undo your horrible deed. You missed your family and friends so badly....

The howling wind drowns the sounds of someone walking towards you. The steps are short and quiet, fit for a small monster or a child. With your face buried into your knees, you don't notice how someone stops in front of you. Only when the person speaks you realize you are not alone.

“Hey, you ok Frisk?” you hear a familiar, slightly scared, yet also worried voice ask.

You lift your head slightly from your arms to see none other than the monster kid standing in front of you with a shocked and worried look on his face. There was no malice in there...only worry for your sake. The monster child was clearly slightly scared of you but didn't let it overwhelm him. No doubt he had been told to stay away from you, but he couldn't simply ignores your distress. He hesitated before stepping forward.

_Of all the monsters, why did it have to be you?_

“Why are you all alone here Frisk? The night is almost here and I'm sure Sans is going to get worried. You'll catch cold if you just sit there on the snow,” the monster kid says with a comforting smile. He really wanted to help you.

 _I'm sorry,_ is all you can think of as the large and warm tears keep trailing down your face. With soft sobs you try to wipe them into your sleeves but it does little good. _I don't want to do this! But I have to. I don't want to forget my mom and dad...my friends._

“I'm so sorry,“ you cry, almost wail. “I just miss them so bad...”

The kid smiled reassuringly. “Hey, I miss the king, queen and Papyrus as well. I too feel like crying all the time. No need to be ashamed,” the monster kid tried to comfort you. “Wanna walk back to the village together? It is getting pretty late. You know, you'll eventually get buried into the snow if you just sit there,” the other kid joked a bit, clearly trying to lift your spirit.

You realized now that there were no one else around. The kid had probably been wandering around the waterfalls again, trying to look for Undyne who no longer lived there. She and Alphys were in the capital now.

You calm down a bit and wipe away the remaining tear as you stand up. Sudden stillness and calmness had taken over your heart, or emptiness to be more precise. You felt like there was a void inside you. There were no longer any other options left for you. If you endured this life, Sans would only get worse and destroy your memories of your family. You had to escape, no matter the cost, no matter who you had to hurt. You'd be safe up there and the monsters would never find you. 

_I'm so sorry. I have to do this._

“Did you have some fight with Sans?” the monster kid continued his one sided conversation, probably talking just to keep you company and to comfort you to the best of his ability. He was clearly trying to guess why you were crying, thinking that you had had a small fight with Sans. “He misses his brother, we all do. I'm sure he has just a short fuse now and will apologize to you once you go back.”

 _I really like you. I wish...I wish things could be different,_ you think with broken heart and soul as you wrap your arms around the kid and hug him tightly, making him look slightly confused and surprised by the sudden gesture.

“I'm so sorry for everything,” you whisper weakly and utterly defeated, “please forgive me. I didn't want any of this to happen.” You had no other choice but to commit to this path.

“Hey, it is ok, don't cry. None of this is your fault, Frisk, never was,” the kid said reassuringly and you realized that he was probably the only person who thought so. “It is not your fault that flower monster decided to hurt Asgore, Toriel and Papyrus. You've been kind to every monster you've come across and shown mercy. You aren't responsible for what that flower did.”

You wail against the monster child's shoulder for a moment and let it all out, but your cries are deafened by the howling wind that blows through the area. You move your hand to touch the handle of the rusty scissor blades in your pocket that felt so heavy.

“Everyone hates me here...I want to go home,” you sob.

The monster kid smiles sadly and moves closer, clearly wanting to comfort you despite not having arms.

“I'm sure everyone will eventually forgive you and things will be alright. I'm sad too, but you didn't cause all this,” the small monster continues in calm tone and his words only make everything worse. His words almost made you change your mind, almost. “Things will turn ok, I promise.”  
_No they won't, not for me._

“I want my mom,” you cry desperately, wanting to escape this horrible and cruel world, to leave it behind and forget it as a bad dream. “I don't want to do this.”

_**But you have to.** _

“Do what? It is ok to cry, I do it all the time,” the small monster kid said with a confused look on his face, never seeing the strike. “Things will turn out alright, life continues. Believe it.”

_I can't, not anymore. Not after what Sans has done to me, not after how others treat me._

With one swift move, you thrust your hand forward, letting the rusty long blades sink into the kid's side.

You push yourself away from the monster kid who just stands there in shock, not understanding what had happened to him.

“I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry,” you cry out and repeat those words over and over again like a mantra.

The heinous act drained all your strength and resolve and you fall once more onto the snowy ground, grasping the pure white snow with your hands, ignoring how freezing it felt. You wanted avert your gaze, not wanting to look at the person you had just fatally wounded, but you felt like you had to face the consequences of your actions.

“I had to do this, otherwise I will never see them again. I have to go home.”

The monster kid looked down at his side and the scissors that were pushed as deep as possible. His eyes were widen with terror and shock and all color drained from his face. The monster child's lower lip started to tremble when his body finally registered the pain. You could see the hopelessness, disbelief and pure fear in his eyes, but before he could say anything, the child dispersed into dust, leaving nothing but a small faint soul and a pile of dust behind.

With the last of your strength, you reach out to grasp the soul and its power flows into you, breaking the binding between you and Sans and thus releasing the skeleton's hold on your soul.

It was done and the connection between you and Sans had been broken, but what good would this do if Sans caught you again? He'd just rip your soul out again and corrupt it fully. This was your only chance to escape.

After a moment, you get up and wipe away the tears before picking up the scissors. Without a word you head towards the waterfalls. You had no idea how long it would take from Sans to realize what had happened, but you suspected that the window was short.

“I'm going home,” you whisper as you start running for your life.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bah, garbage. I can't get into the right mindset with this anymore.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wowiee an update!!

 

 _Run, run, run, don't stop no matter what! Just keep running and you'll make it Frisk,_ is all you can think of as you hurry through the underground world in panic, hoping, nay, praying that your sins wouldn't be able to catch up with you before you had passed through the barrier, that no one would learn about what you had done until you had returned to the world of humans. _It would be best if Sans, Undyne nor anyone else ever found out..._

You were absolutely certain, that if you just were fast enough and didn't stall, you'd see your loved ones again who were waiting for you up there. They had to be hopeless and heartbroken, the uncertainty of your killing them. The hope of seeing your parents again....it was a wish fit for a hopeless, desperate child such as yourself who had been driven to horrible act.

 _Sans and Undyne pushed me to this, this is not my fault!_ You try and reason, desperately justifying your actions. _I didn't want everything to end up like this._

All you wanted was to feel your mother's warm embrace once more and remember her face and voice, things that Sans had so cruelly taken from you the moment he had touched your vulnerable soul, taking control over it.

Changing someone else's soul like that was despicable act, unforgivable.

“Mom, Dad, I want to see you again,” you cry weakly and let out a soft sniffle and hiccup as large and warm tears travel down your face. “I want to go home.”

Your eyes are red and swollen and you can taste the salt of your tears. Your lungs burned with each deep breath you took and it started to feel like your body was starting to reach its limit, yet you pushed onwards with sheer determination and adrenaline fueling your small body. You knew that each pause could be dangerous and the less time you spent in the underground world, the better your chances of escape were. The last thing you wanted was to find yourself crashing straight into Sans, or seeing him standing before you, blocking your way.

 _If Sans or Undyne finds me I am dead for sure. I don't want to die down here...I can't, not before I see my mom and dad again,_ you think as the overwhelming anxiety and terror tighten their suffocating grip on your little heart _._ There is no longer turning back and your only options are either escaping successfully or getting caught; and should that happen, only death or worse waited you.

Your grip around the long and rusty scissors is so tight that your knuckles have turned white and the adrenaline coursing through your veins made you ready to attack anyone in self defense, even if the last thing you wanted was to cause more pain. You had killed someone who had been completely defenseless, and you knew that the only fitting punishment was an eye for an eye.

Papyrus' long red scarf felt comforting and warm around your neck, yet...it also felt heavy, as if it was an embodiment of all your sins and a constant reminder of what you had done. The dust of the monster kid clung to the fabric and you knew you'd never get it off. You swore that if you made it out, you'd keep that scarf with you the rest of your life to remind you what you had experienced an done. Actions had consequences, and the scarf would be a painful reminder.

What you had done was irredeemable...deserving of punishment that was most likely death by Undyne's hand, yet you dreaded more the potential life sentence with Sans. He'd make you forget everything and hurt you.

 _I don't want to go back with Sans, please...I can't help or save him, y_ ou think desperately as you look around, your heart hammering against your small chest in almost painful manner. _I want my mom._

The thought of Sans appearing out of nowhere, grabbing you and pulling your soul out in that painful manner made you almost hyperventilate. Your eyes scanned the area and anything white or blue made your heart skip a beat. You were afraid of Sans, more than anything else in the world. It was a deep, primal fear that pushed you to continue running no matter how much it hurt; you could rest once you were safely on the other side of the barrier where Sans, Undyne nor that strange phantom like monster would ever be able to reach you.

Some of your warm tears were drained by the soft red cloth of Papyrus' scarf and you quickly found yourself drying your eyes on the soft red fabric. It almost felt like the younger skeleton brother was there with you and even though you knew he wouldn't accept your actions, you were sure he'd at least understand what had driven you to this.

“Papyrus, I really wish you were here to help Sans. I'm so sorry for everything, but I can't live with your brother anymore. I can't help him,” you whisper hopelessly, feeling absolutely miserable. “No one wants to help me...I had no other choice. Please believe me. I wanted none of this to happen but I can't restart anymore.”

During your many attempts at saving everyone, you had learned all the shortcuts of the underground world yet no matter how quickly you traversed through the areas, it felt like it wasn't fast enough for your liking.

The few monsters you had encountered in Waterfalls had given you worried looks and asked if you were ok, but to you their inquires had felt rather malicious and their presence absolutely hostile. In your panicked state, you had failed to recognize the genuine concern in their tone. You had pushed past them and ignored every monster who had crossed your path, knowing that they would never forgive you for what you had done to monster kid.

No one would tolerate your presence any longer and the monsters would call for your head for sure. Not even Sans would want to forgive you for your actions and if he didn't kill you, you'd end up living under his control. The short skeleton would take full control over your soul for sure and make you forget everything about your loved ones. It was a life you didn't wish to endure no matter what. To be trapped with Sans, knowing what you had done yet not recalling the reason why...it felt like a nightmare, a worst fate possible.

 _Please don't come after me, I beg of you, just sleep till I've made it past the barrier,_ you plead whatever higher power there might be to not let Sans find you, that he'd just sleep peacefully on that green couch until you were long gone and beyond his reach.

Even though the skeleton no longer had a hold over your soul thanks to the monster kid's soul breaking the connection, somehow you still felt...dirty, like there was lingering presence of Sans on your soul. You couldn't quite describe the feeling, but it felt wrong. No person should know other's soul like that.

 

No doubt the skeleton would have easy time finding you, especially since he could teleport. Oh you knew all about his little tricks and that knowledge pushed you to hurry forward even more swiftly. Sans could search all places of the small underground world within seconds, which meant you had limited time to get out. Perhaps some of Sans' desperation and madness had afflicted you, making the act all the more easier; at least that was what you hoped. If it really was so...you could blame this all on Sans.

 

You are forced to stop running when your finally find you way to the elevator that takes you up from the core to the capital city and the final stretch. You can't help but let out a long sigh of relief when the elevator stops and the metal doors open slowly to reveal the wast city before you. You stay still for a moment as you stare at the castle that looms in the distance and the million stars above it that in fact were glimmering rocks attached to the ceiling... only a little more and you would reach the barrier and then...then you'd see your family again. The city streets were empty and quiet. Sans would never find you there.

_I will get home. I'll make it no matter what......mom... I will see you again._

 

* * *

 

Sans shot up into a sitting position panting with pearls of cold sweat on his brow, which was quite a feat considering him being a skeleton. He has seen the most terrible nightmare about his brother who had been wrapped in thorny green vines, his bones broken one by one by that demonic flower until every part of him had turned to dust except his head. And then there had been Frisk among all that chaos, looking as innocent as ever when they were the reason for everything that had gone wrong.

 

_Sans watched in horror how Frisk stood among the green thorny wines with his brother's head in their arms. The child was desperately hugging Papyrus' skull that was smiling and telling them to cheer up and be happy, that not everything was bad._

_Frisk was wearing his brother's red scarf around their neck and shoulders and when Sans took a closer look, he saw how the small human was covered in dust that probably had belong to the king, queen and his brother. Frisk looked scared, desperate and lonely, clearly not wanting the friendly skeleton to leave them._

“ _Please, don't go Papyrus...Don't leave me with Sans....”_

_Flowey observed the three of them, yet didn't say anything. He was merely a nightmarish presence, suffocating and crushing all hope with his green vines._

“ _Papyrus?” Sans asked quietly and the child and her brother both looked at him, yet, before Papyrus had time to answer, Frisk tightened their hold on it to the point the skull cracked and turned to dust in their hands, leaving only the red scarf and gray dust in their arms..._

_He hadn't even been able to say goodbye to Papyrus. He would give anything to see his little brother again, to say how much he missed him every day._

“ _Frisk no!! What...what did you do?!” Sans roared and lunged towards Frisk, wrapping his hands around the child's neck to strangle them. His left eye was solid blue and he was breathing heavily, his soul overwhelmed by rage, sorrow and hatred. “This is all your fault! If you had not appeared in our world, my brother would still be alive! Why...why did I show mercy to something like you? I should have killed you the moment you left the ruins,” Sans yelled and saw Flowey glaring at them with eerie and creepy look on his face before turning to dust as well._

_The two of them stood in the darkness, surrounded by dust. Everything Frisk touched would die and suffer, that much was clear._

_Before Sans knew what had happened, the child had stopped moving...yet unlike a monster body, they didn't go anywhere. Frisk remained there, their small body limp and void of life._

“ _Frisk...Frisk I...I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to...” Sans whispered in terror as his rage was drained away and replaced by fear and horrible quilt. The skeleton released his hold on the unmoving child's neck and instead took hold of them, hugging their lifeless form tightly. “Please, please don't leave me Frisk, I didn't mean any of this to happen! I'll do anything to keep you safe and with me...I won't let you leave or get hurt so please...don't go...I beg you.”_

 

As Sans started to calm down, his left eye gradually stopped glowing, even if his heart/soul was still beating rather rapidly thanks to that horrifying nightmare that had felt all too real. He had seen these dreams for weeks now yet he never got used to them, if anything, each nightmare felt more terrifying than the previous one.

In his restless dreams, he continuously kept losing Frisk, either to their own family or by killing them in moment of anger, yet in reality he'd never, ever hurt the child, yet he couldn't help his feelings at times. He just...couldn't help himself at times. Taking control over Frisk's soul had been the right thing to do. He blamed Frisk, yes...but Frisk was also his family now and he was never, ever going to let someone take Frisk from him. The human was his burden to take care of, to feed, protect, clothe and love.

Sans couldn't help but feel sick, perverted sense of satisfaction knowing that the small child had nowhere to go to. He was the only one capable and willing to take care of them....The moment he had met Frisk in that forest, he had decided to look after the child. They had been so scared and vulnerable, desperate to have a friend to look after them.

_Frisk is mine...and I'm the only one they have._

Speaking of the human.

“Frisk?” Sans asked out loud with a tired sigh, wanting to see his little buddy to make sure they were safe and sound. The short skeleton found himself growing quickly agitated when he didn't know where his little buddy was, and at times he wished you'd just stay put inside the house, not complaining or whining. The underground world was not a friendly place anymore and he was going to make sure you'd survive. There was no way he was going to let someone like Undyne hurt you.

“Ugh...What time is it?” Sans muttered quietly as he tried to shake off the drowsiness that lingered.

He had no idea of how long he had been sleeping, but surely Frisk had returned already, after all you had said that you would just make a small walk outside and get back home.

However, when his question was met with the soft sound of the TV that was set on a random channel to fill the silence he could no longer bear, Sans started to get worried. The short skeleton gave the television a somewhat vexed look and grabbed the remote, turning the whole thing off completely. Silence fell over the house and Sans could feel himself tense up instantly.

“Frisk? You sleeping already?” Sans asked louder and looked around, but the child was nowhere to be seen and the house was deathly silent. For a fleeting moment Sans thought that you had gone to bed already, but then he felt somehow...empty, like there was something missing that had given him comfort and peace of mind. Then he realized it, his control over your soul was gone.

The short skeleton felt his heart skip a beat and his eyes widened in terror when it really hit him, that the connection he had forcibly created with you was broken and gone. The worst thing was that there were exactly 2 options that could have caused the connection to break; either the child had died....or they had killed someone and taken their soul to break his hold. Both possibilities were really bad, yet the death was something Sans' couldn't bear to think of.

Sans' black eyes were wide and he was trembling slightly, his hands gripping the green fabric of the sofa.

 _Frisk...Frisk can't be dead, they just can't...I can't have lost them as well, I just can't_ , the unhinged skeleton thought as terror started to overwhelm his soul. _I cannot be left all alone._ He grit his teeth and was ready to make whoever had dared to hurt Frisk pay!! Yet...in his heart he knew that while your death was very well possible, the other choice was much more probable, even if he had no wish to admit it.

Never in his life had Sans felt such dread as he now did. It washed over him like a tidal wave, paralyzing him and making his mind race with all the possibilities that could happen.

 

Suddenly, a soft and sinister chuckle echoed in the house, one Sans had not heard in ages, but also one he recognized in and instant. The short and stout skeleton turned his head slowly to face someone he had not seen in what felt like a life time.

In the middle of the dark room stood a tall black phantom with distorted white face, his form illuminated by the dim lights of the room.

“My my, have you lost something precious Sans?” Gaster asked, the smile on his white face anything but friendly. The previous Royal Scientist truly looked like something out of a nightmare now, wishing only ill towards both Sans and Frisk. “Something small, living, adorable, homesick....and definitely broken on the inside just like you?? Something that goes by the name Frisk....”

 

“Gaster?” Sans asked quietly, his eyes wide with fear and shock.

Not only had he lost his control over Frisk for some reason, but now W.D Gaster himself had appeared into his living room. Hearing the phantom question him about Frisk after his control had been broken made Sans immediately hostile towards him. The two of them had never had a good relationship.

“Where is Frisk?” the skeleton asked quietly as he stared blankly at the tall phantom. His emotions were a mess, like a maelstrom inside his heart.

When Gaster didn't answer him and merely sneered at the short skeleton with a hollow look in his eyes, Sans lost what little control he had left. “....you've hurt them, haven't you? What have you done with Frisk?! Tell me!” Sans yelled, his left eye glowing ghostly blue.

The skeleton summoned a circle of bones around Gaster, ready to hurt the phantom even though he wasn't sure if physical attacks did anything to him. If Gaster had taken Frisk away and hurt or killed them...he'd make sure the ghost like monster would suffer. “My hold over the human's soul is gone...,I know you are behind this one way or another!”

Gaster merely let out a hollow laughter and didn't looked fazed in the slightest by the sharp looking bone javelins that all pointed at him. As much as Sans hated to admit it, he suspected that his panicked state only served to amuse Gaster because by the looks of it, the ghost was having the time of his life, loving every second of the misery and fear Sans was experiencing.

“Me? What makes you think I've done something to your cute, hopeless and absolutely desperate little _**pet**_?” Gaster asked with a soft yet absolutely malicious chuckle, tilting his head ever so slightly to the side. “I haven't done anything to your precious little Frisk and to my knowledge, they are alive and well...for now,” Gaster continued in rather sinister tone, closing out the possibility of death.

As horrible as it was to think Frisk had killed someone, Sans felt relieved to hear that his little buddy was alive and well. Yet, it did leave him with the fact that the child had killed someone either by accident or purpose and taken their soul...it was troubling to say the least. Well whatever the case was, he wasn't going to let anyone hurt you. He'd take care of you and protect you no matter what.

Sans grit his teeth in anger and glared daggers at Gaster who was enjoying the control he had over Sans to his heart's content.

“Where is Frisk?” Sans hissed through his teeth.

“What makes you think I know where that little human has run off to?” the phantom scoffed, only to hold a small pause to enjoy the panicked look in Sans eyes. “But judging by your behavior and the recent occurrences and Frisk's mental health....I'd guess they are somewhere as far away from you as possible,” the previous royal scientist chuckled, his black eyes narrow due to the menacing sneer on his face. “Why, one could guess they might even be on their way to the barrier.”

Suddenly Sans felt like he couldn't move a single bone in his body. Could...Could you really be trying to get to the barrier? No, it couldn't be.

 _Frisk, Frisk can't be trying to leave me, can they?_ He could understand you trying to get your soul free from his hold, but...to escape the monster world all together and leave him behind? No, he refused to accept that.

“It is so amusing to see where sharing a little bit of information can lead to...murder, pain and madness...”

The older brother's mind was in turmoil and his soul was gripped by panic, fear and anger. Sans had hard time regaining control over himself and his left eye was glowing solid blue. He was seething with rage, having realized what had occurred; Gaster had told Frisk how to break free from his control...and the foolish child had decided to act upon it. It was almost too painful to endure. Frisk had been ready to kill someone to get away from him. If Sans had any blood, it would have been boiling. Never in his life had he felt this hurt and betrayed.

_I took Frisk in after the death of Toriel and Asgore...I've looked after them and kept them safe, yet they choose to run away? I can't...I don't want to be left all alone. I won't let Frisk go, no matter what. I have nothing else left._

Though your betrayal hurt...you were just a kid, a kid who didn't know any better and had made a great mistake; and he'd make sure it would never happen again.

“Why, why would you tell Frisk?” the short skeleton asked quietly and almost jumped when Gaster suddenly moved closer, phasing directly through the bone spikes that did nothing to him. Sans couldn't help but flinch in terror when he found the phantom's bone white and distorted face inches away from his. Gaster's hollow smile was so wide that it looked very disturbing on his twisted face.

“Because I am bored and though watching you two struggle and fall apart has been a respite from it, it too has lost its interest...all I did was share some advice with little Frisk, telling them how they might break your control over them. I thought it would be only fair considering what you've done, Sans. Heh, that kid really misses their family...more than they'd ever miss you. Frisk will want to forget all about you Sans...you'll be forgotten.”

The cold and paralyzing dread was being slowly pushed aside by cold, controlled rage that was directed at Gaster whose fault this all was. Sure, you had acted upon his advice and taken a life, but...if it wasn't for the scientist, you would have never known how to free yourself from his hold.

“You are trying to take Frisk from me... Do you even realize what you have done? You pushed that child to murder someone...”

Gaster shook his head and smiled all amused.

“What utter nonsense, I merely let Frisk have all the facts. I didn't urge them to murder their little friend or escape, albeit I do find it amusing that hopeless little thing was ready to kill another child just to get away from you of all people,” Gaster murmured and chuckled maliciously, his tar like form dripping onto the floor and fading away, leaving no trace behnd. “Oh how miserable you must feel, knowing that everyone will abandon you no matter what...that even a child is ready to commit a murder just to get rid of you Sans. You truly are pathetic waste of space. I wish Papyrus had lived instead of you...”

Gaster had never liked Sans, unlike Papyrus who had always been positive, optimistic and happy. One could even say that the monster held a grudge towards both Sans and Frisk, wanting to see the two of them suffer in each other's hands.

Sans' eyes were wide and the hatred was gone, replaced by pure fear and anxiety. Frisk....Frisk was going to leave him if he didn't do something, either by crossing the barrier or by getting killed by vengeful monsters.

At that moment, Sans didn't think of the reason for them to want to leave, just that if he didn't do something, he'd end up all alone, trapped beneath the mountain without a single friend. The short skeleton feared to be alone, more than anything else....He **needed** Frisk and was prepared to do anything to make them stay...even if he had to rip out their soul and corrupt it thoroughly.

“If I were you, I'd act fast Sans...” the phantom murmured maliciously before letting out a small, sinister chuckle that echoed in ghostly manner; he was loving every second of this. Gaster gazed towards the window and only now did Sans realize that there were monsters gathering together some distance away from his house.

Sans teleported outside to see what was going on. He stayed close to his house, trying not to get attention.

Each passing second more monsters joined the group and it was clear that they were starting to form multiple search parties. Sans could feel his heart skip a beat and cold dread overwhelmed him once more when he saw the monster kid's mother crying her heart out, clearly worried because her child had not returned home....and never would.

Among them stood Undyne, tall and valiant as ever, her golden eyes filled with doubt and concern as she listened to the details the townsfolk gave her. They wondered if the child had gotten himself lost in the snow but Sans could see that Undyne's mind was drawn to one particular opinion...it was plastered all over her face.

The tall monster woman looked ponderous and lifted her gaze only to notice Sans standing in the distance. The skeleton's widen eyes and the shocked expression on his face confirmed all of Undyne's suspicions. The two of them stared at each other for a moment and each passing second, Undyne's expression turned colder and more merciless until her eyes were burning with cold rage and she was gritting her sharp teeth. Sans could tell that she was seething with hatred towards you. Humans were all alike, not a single one was redeemable.

Something inside Sans snapped when he heard Gaster's sinister chuckle behind him. “Oh....she will tear that child into shreds,” Gaster mused with a creepy smile on his distorted face.

Before Gaster could finish that sentence, Sans was gone, leaving the royal scientist standing alone in the snow and wind.

Undyne blinked in confusion when she saw the older skeleton brother just vanish into thin air, but what surprised her even more was the sight of the previous royal scientist standing there and staring at her with a dark smile on his face.

Gaster nodded at Undyne and gave her a mocking sneer before fading away back to whatever ghostly level of existence he inhabited. He'd enjoy and observe the show from now on, leaving the stage for good.

 

* * *

 

You stagger forward along the streets of the capital city that were completely empty, deserted even. After the deaths of Asgore and Toriel, many monsters had simply picked up their things and moved to another region in the underground world. They simply couldn't bear to live in a place that had seen so much sorrow. The ancient city had really started to feel like a cursed region and the yellow flowers had become an absolutely despised symbol among the monsters. Undyne had sought to weed them from their kingdom once and for all.

Only a handful of families along with Undyne and Alphys remained in the capital and you knew you weren't welcome here, not after what had happened. The new monster queen outright refused to acknowledge your existence and turned blind eye to your suffering. She had not wanted you dead, but she no longer held any warm feelings towards you either.

 _She has all the reasons to kill me now,_ you think in fear as you run through the streets. _I guess I did meet her expectations after all. I'm just a murderous human to her now...._

 

In the end, you were nothing but a scared child, driven to act of desperation in order to get home to your loved ones.

You finally make it to the castle that towered over you in rather foreboding manner. You stop for a moment and hesitate stepping inside the building where all of your friends had died in Flowey's hands...yet it was the only way to the barrier and home.

 _Just a little bit more Frisk and you will be in the barrier room...you can make it there...you have to,_ you encourage yourself to keep going so that you can see the surface world again.

It was night and Undyne and Alphys were probably sleeping already and there weren't that many royal guards around in the capital either. You could just slip through the barrier and never be seen again, never be punished for your sins that would be left here. All of this would be just a bad dream, something you would never have to think about again.

“I really wish I could have started over and done things differently...but I can't,” you whisper quietly and finally step inside the castle.

 

Your steps echo from the walls of the Dreemurr castle as you quickly sneak through the numerous rooms towards the throne room and the barrier that lief behind it. You could barely breathe due to the gripping fear and anxiety and each step you took felt too loud for your liking. There were no guards anywhere to be seen, but Sans or Undyne could appear any moment.

“I'm sorry everyone, I really am...but I just cannot stay here...” you whisper when you pass through the throne room where the king, queen and Papyrus had met their unfortunate ends...along with Flowey.

There was a scorched patch of ground where the yellow flower bed had once rested, burned to ash by Undyne who had lost all hope of ever seeing the surface world in her lifetime thanks to the lost human souls.

Undyne blamed you for everything and created peer pressure that had directed the whole monster society. Perhaps it helped her to accept everything that had happened if she could push all the blame on someone...even if it was a child.

 _I guess Gaster was right...she hates me already, what does it matter if she loathes me a bit more?_ You think sadly, wishing things had turned out differently.

She had lost just as much as Sans, and become just as broken, refusing to do anything even when she could clearly see what Sans was doing to you.

Sans...It felt bad to leave him behind, but you had no other choice, not when Sans along with Undyne had become so unhinged, threatening your safety, soul and memories.

The older skeleton brother had clearly lost himself to the sorrow and could not be pulled from his hopelessness no matter what, gods above know you've tried. Each time you had tried reaching out to him, he had pushed you away and hurt you...

The pain had turned him cold and cruel and you just knew that you wouldn't survive with your soul and memories intact if he learned that his control over you made you forget your loved ones and life up there. He wasn't the Sans you remembered nor wanted. He was a husk of the person he had been.

You halt your steps when you finally reach the great barrier that separated the human world from that of monsters. It stood tall, beautiful and foreboding, barring passage from everyone without two souls. It would stand there until 7 souls were collected.

 

You can feel your small body starting to tremble from exhaustion and though there were only a handful of meters to the eerie barrier, the distance felt longer than your journey from Snowdin all the way to the caste.

“Please let me go home, I beg of you. I've suffered enough,” you whisper quietly and close your eyes to plead whatever higher power there might be to let you return back home to your mother and father who were waiting for you.

You could feel the echo of the monster kid's soul inside you, but it was weak and would probably fade away soon enough. It had to be enough to cross the barrier...it just had to. “I just want to go home, nothing more, so...please, let me pass through. I've had enough.”

With trembling hands and legs, you finally step forward, almost too afraid to touch the barrier so that you wouldn't have to face the potential failure.

Each step you took towards the magical wall felt more painful than the one before it. Your body had reached its limit and you barely had any strength left.

You finally find yourself standing directly before the barrier and lift your gaze up to see it tower before you in foreboding manner, as if judging your soul. You raise your trembling hand to touch the barrier, trying to push through it....but nothing happens. It is like a solid wall and does not give in.

The barrier just stood there, unbreakable, preventing you from venturing past it and leaving the monster world that had become hostile and dangerous to you. It looked like the soul of the monster kid had not been strong enough to grant you passage. Only a boss monster would allow you to escape this hell.

For a moment, you just stood there, unable to accept the cruel reality that had been forced upon you.

 _I can't return home, I can't pass through..._.the realization finally hits you like a truck and the paralyzing feelings of dread and anxiety take a painful grip of your heart, almost completely crushing it along with your soul. _I have to kill someone else, a boss monster. But...I don't have time and Sans will soon find me. I'm not strong enough....I...I...._

Your lower lip starts to tremble as tears start to trail down your face. No matter how hard you try, you just cannot stop your body from trembling as the utter exhaustion and desperation settles in. The adrenaline that had kept you going was long gone and the sorrow had drained away what little energy you had left. You couldn't' endure this anymore.

“I can't do this anymore!” you cry out and slump down onto the stone floor, the rusty scissors falling to your sound with a loud clattering sound. You whimper and dig your fingers into the magical barrier as you wail hopelessly, tears streaming down and falling onto the stone floor.

“I want my mom...” you weep and cry in heart breaking manner, wishing that this was all just a bad dream you would soon wake up from; a terrible dream that had only lasted over a month. “Please I want to wake up, I don't want to be here anymore.”

The magical barrier just stood there, cold and uncaring...fueled by the hatred of humans from centuries ago. Your hopes and dreams didn't move it in anyway and it merely stood there like it always had. In retrospective it felt absolutely foolish to think that a single human's wish could make a difference when the barrier hadn't budged even before a whole civilization's hopes and dreams..

 

_This is not fair, it is not fair! No matter what I do it is never enough._

You turn and press your back against the magical wall and hug your legs, burying your face against your knees. It was just too painful to accept. You had tried your everything to help the monsters, but no matter what you did, it was never good enough and when you had finally been pushed to kill someone, even _**that**_ wasn't enough.

The scissors lied next to you, completely forgotten. You hated them, you hated yourself and everyone in the underground world.

Your crime had been horrible, but it had been an act of desperation. There were no longer saves, loads or restarts. This was now the reality you were stuck with and you knew that it was a worst one possible. What made it all the more bitter was how you had tried to find a best ending for everyone, only to end up suffering the most.

 _I try so hard to help and save everyone yet everything just falls apart. I try to save and help Sans and he just hurts me,_ you grasp your hair and weep hopelessly. It felt like all life had to offer was misery. _What have I done to deserve this_? _...what must I do to see my mom again? Please, someone tell me..._

 

You cried your little heart out, not caring if someone heard, after all, this was the only place you could have run to. Before long Sans, Undyne or someone else would find you and make you pay for your actions. Hiding wasn't a choice either. Where would you run to? You were trapped with the monsters and before long you'd run out of hiding spots.

You had killed someone and had to face the judgment. With any luck Undyne would just kill you quickly before you had to face the MK's parents. How could you face anyone after what you had done?

 _I will never see my parents again, and the monster kid's parents will never see their child again,_ you think, realizing now just how heavy and terrible your actions had been.

You wipe your tears into Papyrus' scarf as you sob and wail quietly, knowing very well that no one would be moved by your tears anymore.

“I'm so sorry for everything Papyrus, for your, Asgore's and Toriel's deaths, for not being able to help Sans and for killing that monster kid....I can't do anything right.”

Despite being mature for your age, you were still a child, a scared, hopeless and desperate thing who wanted to get back home.

“Please let me pass, I don't want to die down here or go back to Sans. I want my mom....Haven't I suffered enough? I just wanted to help everyone and I can't...not anymore. I just want to feel my mom's arms around me one last time...”

Your pleads were useless with no one there to listen to them.

 

After a moment, you hear soft steps coming towards you; your crying had clearly attracted unwanted attention. Half fearing it was Sans you don't lift your gaze and merely keep your face buried against your arms and knees, yet, when you hear a soft and familiar timid voice you finally lift your gaze up, your eyes swollen and red from all the crying.

You saw Alphys standing before you with a baffled look on her face.

“F-F-Frisk? Why are you here at this hour? A-a-are you hurt?” Alphys asks a bit afraid and worried, clearly confused by your sudden appearance at the barrier. No one ever came here, after all what was the point? It had stood there centuries.

You wipe your eyes into the soft red fabric that had become wet from all the tears it had drained.

Alphys was holding a notebook and a coffee cup in her hand, having probably been doing some late night research in her laboratory. The young royal scientist looked a bit afraid, but also worried, worried for you which made the next thought all the more painful and disgusting. Yet...you couldn't make things any worse for yourself.

_Alphys....her soul is strong, isn't it?_

The young scientist gazed at you, then at the barrier and once more at you with a rather baffled look on her face, but it softened when she came to the conclusion that you had come here due to home sickness.

“You miss your parents, don't you Frisk??” the current royal scientist asks kindly and you nod your head slightly, feeling miserable and horrible.

_Undyne loathes me already....so what if she hates me some more? Let her pour all her hatred on me...I will either get home or get killed, so what does it matter what I do?_

Seeing you weeping against the barrier had to be pitiful sight because Alphys' expression softened quickly.

“Does Sans know you are here?” she asked . “He must be worried for you...or is he?” Alphys continued and her expression grew a bit sorrowful when she recalled her previous encounter with you and how Sans wasn't quite himself anymore. She wished she could help, but there was nothing she could do. Without Undyne's approval, she was too timid to take initiative and even if she tried...she feared it would make Sans'...and Undyne's condition even worse. The two adults had completely lost themselves to the sorrow and while taking their anger, pain and fears out on a child was unforgivable....she didn't know what she could do.

In her heart Alphys wished that the two of them would just come around and realize that they had to go on with their lives and do what was right.

Sans needed to have you, and you were the only thing that gave him any sort of stability. Alphys had believed that in time he'd work through his grief and take care of you, but she had no idea how deep his madness and possessiveness ran. She nor Undyne had any idea what the short skeleton had done to your soul.

You wipe away your tears while your other hand reaches out to grasp the scissors tightly before standing up with shaky legs. Your knuckles were white and your heart was hammering against your chest as the rush of adrenaline filled your body once more.

“Is that Papyrus scarf? I'm glad it is still keeping you warm....I...I miss our friends every day,” she continued to talk, hoping that she could comfort you and help you calm down.

_I can't... I can't...I can't...I don't want to...but if I don't Sans will...I can't have him do that to me again, I just can't!! I won't let him touch my soul again._

“Frisk?” Alphys asks and only now notices just how startled the look in your eyes was and how you are trembling almost violently, as if fighting yourself. You looked almost like a cornered wild animal that had no other choice but to lash out at its hunter in one last desperate attempt to save itself.

The royal scientists eyes widened in terror and she froze when she realized that the dirt on your hair and clothes was actually monster dust and that the scissors you held had probably been used to create it.

“Frisk...?” She asked again and though she sounded scared, there was sorrow in her voice, as if she had failed you.

“I just want to go home Alphys,” you sob hopelessly, your voice thin and barely audible. “...I... just want to get back to my parents. I can't stay with Sans...I can't even recall my mother's face because of him!” you cry and grit your teeth, barely able to get the words out. “I'll lose them all if I stay down here with Sans. ” Tears were trailing down your face now and you looked truly broken. “I don't want to stay with him anymore and no one else wants to help me,” you wail hopelessly. “I can't help him and I don't know what else to do.”

Alphys was clearly shocked by your words and despite being timid, easily scared and constantly nervous, she quickly connected the dots.

“F-f-frisk...calm down,” she said, and oddly enough, it sounded as if she was more concerned about your health than her own. Alphys...after everything you had done, she was more worried for you than herself. The young woman realized you had killed someone in order to get a monster soul to cross the barrier. She didn't look all that surprised. It was as if she had expected this to happen given the condition their world had fallen into.

 

However, before Alphys can find the words to calm you down, you see a flash of blue light coming from the doorway. You move on an instinct and barely avoid a javelin that was meant for your heart. The spear missed its target by mere inches.

You fall against the barrier that still prevents you from leaving and you slump against it, trembling in fear as you stare at the person who had tried to kill you.  
“Alphys get away from that murderous human!”

You can feel all hope of ever hugging your mom again fade away when you see Undyne herself standing in the door way wearing her armor with a vengeful, cold and absolutely murderous look in her yellow eyes. She was panting heavily, having clearly run all the way from Snowdin to the barrier room.

 

“Human....” Alphys practically snarled as she approached you slowly. “I've heard some rather troubling news about Monster Kid having gone missing. Isn't it quite a coincidence to see you here? The moment I heard about it, I just knew that all the stories about you humans being nothing but killers was true!” Undyne roared, her expression turning truly murderous when she saw the rusty blades and the dust on your clothes. You were trembling and holding the scissors close to your heart. The sight of the grey dust on Papyrus' scarf enraged the young woman, making her thirst for your blood.

_I can't do this, I will die._

“ You don't have anything to say for yourself, Frisk? No matter...I think the evidence speak for themselves...I should have done this the moment I saw you, that way...we all could have crossed that damn barrier and left this cage behind! You...you are nothing more than a pest! When I take your soul, I will cross that wall and kill each and every human I see until I can destroy that barrier for good and free us all,” the new monster queen growled and aimed another spear at you, only to have it hit and bounce by a bone spike that appeared out of nowhere.

Undyne stopped and blinked a couple of times in confusion, only to see her body get enveloped in blue light. Before she has time to throw the third spear, the blue attack sends her flying up against the ceiling, only to smash her down onto the stone floor. The white marble cracks and breaks underneath the force and you can hear the tall monster woman grunt in pain.

“Undyne!!” the young royal scientist let out but didn't dare to run to her because of Sans who had appeared out of nowhere just in time to “save” you from certain death. He stood next to one of the walls, grinning maliciously at Undyne who was growling at him.

His left eye was glowing forebodingly and the grin on his face was hollow and void of any joy.

“Undyne, I wont let you hurt my little Frisk...” Sans said quietly before turning his eyes to you, “no matter what they've done.”

You tremble as Sans gaze bores into you, making you wonder whether you should be more scared of him or Undyne who had finally managed to stand up and was staring daggers at Sans. The skeleton grinned at the young woman who had prepared her spear, ready to kill him too for letting this happen.

 

“I'm taking Frisk home. I won't let you...or anyone take them away from me.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only two more chapters left! I will finish this one.


	7. Tragedy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost done with this story.

The barrier room was deathly silent as Undyne and Sans just stared at each other, trying to determine just how dangerous of an opponent the other could be. Everyone in the monster world knew about the current monster queen's battle prowess, but did she know just how dangerous Sans could be? How deadly he could be if he wanted to.

The way Sans had slaughtered Flowey had probably given some insight to his true nature, yet Undyne had a strong feeling she had not seen Sans shown all of his cards yet... and that made him dangerous. The atmosphere was dreadful, oppressive and absolutely volatile. One wrong move from any one of them and things would get ugly.

You could feel your whole body tremble as you realize that this was not going to end well for any of you. No one said it out loud, but the threat of extreme violence hanged in the air and it was only a matter of time before they'd result to it.

The grin on Sans' face was absolutely macabre and his left eye was solid blue and black as he stared at you, clearly wanting to just drag your miserable little body back to the Snowdin village and lock you up inside his and Papyrus' house to make sure you'd never be able to leave him again.

 _I'm scared...I don't want to go with him, Papyrus,_ you think fearfully and clutch the younger brother's red scarf as you eye Sans who had not taken your little escape attempt well. One glance at the short skeleton told you everything you needed to know; your sweet little lies and attempt to leave him had taken a great toll on Sans' already damaged psyche. He was going to rip out your soul and take full control over it so that you'd never have any free will again.

The utter silence was finally broken when you could no longer hold the small sobs and whimpers of terror inside. You were so afraid and hopeless, not wanting to accept or face the facts that your little escape attempt had sealed you into a time-line that was a worst one possible for you. No one would help you now. You either die...or live the rest of your life as Sans' little puppet and doll.

Everyone loathed and despised you now for sure. In your early attempts to make it out alive, you had killed some who had tried to take your life, but had chosen to restart or load immediately to fix things. Even Sans had not judged you too harshly for killing few monsters in self defense, but...this time it was different. You had killed a defenseless child who had trusted you....it had been an act of murder, nothing more, even if you had acted out of desperation. The bottom line was that no one would forgive you.

 _Please, just let me restart one last time, I promise to make things right and help everyone. Let me restart for their sake,_ you plead as you cry hopelessly, your warm tears falling onto the marble floor. _I'll be happy with any other time-line, even if I can't see my family again._ However, no matter how hard you plead and wish for things to be different, your prayers go unanswered and unheard.

Undyne could barely contain her burning rage and hatred that had formed a maelstrom inside her soul. You could see the blue monster woman visibly trembling as she tried to maintain control, her grip on the long and deadly blue spear so tight that her knuckles had turned white and she clearly wanted nothing more than to impale you with the deadly weapon. You had never seen her so scary or unhinged. Undyne looked borderline insane, her reasoning consumed by the hatred and lust for vengeance.

She had bared her razor sharp white teeth at Sans whose insolence and arrogance had enraged her even further. Undnyne's golden eyes had a murderous gleam to them and she harbored only ill will towards both you and Sans and it was clear she hated the short skeleton almost as much as you.

How did he dare to prevent her from punishing you? He....Sans was partly a reason for what happened. If he had kept you under tighter control then maybe none of this would have happened. Undyne, like Sans was absolutely blind to the reasons that had led to this tragedy. She wasn't able to see or comprehend what could have caused you to murder someone, other than you being a bloodthirsty and selfish human. She should have been crueler with you to ensure you wouldn't dare trying anything stupid.

“You...you dare to try and stop me Sans? Who the hell do you think you are?! That filthy child has killed one of our own! The humans are exactly what I thought them to be. They haven't changed at all in hundreds of years and are just as cruel as as the day they sealed us down here!” Undyne yelled at Sans, pointing her spear at you while keeping her eyes fixated on the skeleton who clearly was the greater threat to her. “I will kill Frisk and start collecting the souls again so that we can finally get out of this hellhole. MK's family deserve to be avenged,” Undyne hissed and turned her yellow eyes to you for a fleeting moment.

You couldn't help but tremble due to the paralyzing fear and dread.

The cruel monster queen despised and loathed your mere existence and wanted to see the life leave your little body. She was determined to see you dead and nothing would prevent her from achieving that goal.

“You will not hurt them, Undyne. I will take Frisk home with me and punish them the way I see fit...this will not happen again, ever,” Sans said quietly and started to slowly take steps towards you. “The two of us will discuss things thoroughly and I will make sure Frisk will not be a threat to anyone ever again, not even to themselves,” the skeleton continued quietly as he kept approaching you. The possessive yet hollow look in Sans' eyes told you that you'd prefer death that Undyne would grant you. “I will never let Frisk leave my sight again, I can assure you that.”

However, Sans' approach came to a sudden halt when a blue spear struck the ground before him, sticking out of the floor for few seconds before vanishing like the ones before it. Clearly, Undyne was having none of it.

Sans let out a small and tired sigh before glancing at Undyne who was staring at him with determination burning in her golden eyes; she was going to see you dead no matter what. The young adult woman looked horrifying, glaring daggers at Sans as she grit her sharp teeth,seething with rage. Sand looked more vexed and tired rather than angry or worried, as if he considered Undnyne's aggression and the potential battle a waste of time. He wasn't worried in the least which seemed to annoy Undyne even further.

“That is not good enough....not by a long shot! I am the current ruler and you will **not** intervene with this Sans, I will kill Frisk no matter what. They deserve nothing more, nothing less!” Undyne hissed quietly, her words making Sans turn fully to her.

Undyne had the skeleton's undivided attention now and the hollow grin on his face was rather threatening and foreboding.

“And I had hoped we could avoid this waste of time...” Sans said quietly, his hands inside his jacket's pockets. “I will not let you hurt Frisk, Undyne, so just back off before you regret it.”

She had had it with Sans. No other monster acted with such insolence and arrogance! She was the current leader of the monster world! No one else had been ready to carry the heavy mantle of leadership of becoming the moral compass the monsters of the kingdom. She was doing her best to organize and lead the broken subjects of the kingdom and it was as if meant nothing to Sans!! She couldn't bear nor accept it. She was doing everything in her power to help others and all Sans cared about was Frisk.

She...she was the ruthless monster queen, ready to do everything in her power to save and protect her own people...yet she had failed. Because of you and Sans, the monster kid's parents would have to live on knowing that they'd never hold their beloved child again.

No one else could nor wanted to bear the weight of leadership. She needed to make things right.

“I will not! Death is the only cure for humanity! Frisk will pay for their sins and you will stand aside Sans! How can you return to Snowdin and look into MK's mothers' eyes after this?” Undyne snarled at Sans who lowered his head ever so slightly, making himself look rather menacing. The red haired woman's eyes were wide and she was gritting her sharp teeth, her breath hissing through them. “I swear, if you don't stand aside I will kill you as well!” the current leader growled which seemed to make Sans' grin only widen.

They both looked absolutely insane to you, battling over the right to punish and judge you. Meanwhile, all Alphys could do was stand there and watch the tragedy that was about to unfold before her eyes.

“You can try, but I assure you Undyne, you are going to have bad time if you do. This is my last warning...you let me take Frisk and don't ever come near my little buddy again,” the skeleton said quietly and his words seemed to enrage Undyne even further. “If you do, I will erase you from this world...”

“Go back to Snowdin village Sans! I will take Frisk's soul and finally free our people. We've suffered long enough down here. After I am done, you can take the kid's corpse back with you,” the female monster yelled. “You can stuff it and play home with it all I care, you miserable pile of bones. You are worthless...you couldn't even save Papyrus!” Undyne howled, pouring all of her pent up and bottled hatred out on you and Sans. “You are worthless! Always sleeping on guard duty and going against orders. I wish you had died instead of Papyrus!”

You could hear Alphys gasp in terror and worry when she heard all the horrible things her girlfriend said to Sans who had lost himself to the sadness and sorrow. The scientist had sensed how far gone the older brother was and feared now for Undyne's safety. Yet, she still couldn't act, paralyzed by fear as she was.

While enduring Undyne's verbal abuse and hate, Sans' eyes had gradually lost all light until they were black as void, his grin dead and gone. Hearing Undyne mention Papyrus name was the last straw and something inside Sans snapped, making him want to silence Undyne forever.

The short skeleton waved his hand in and arch, summoning an army of Gaster Blasters to surround Undyne with clear intentions of killing her right there and then, to end her miserable life.

You weren't sure whether it was luck, fate or sheer skill that saved Undyne whose years of combat training kicked in in an instant. All you could do was watch in awe how she moved with inhumane agility, dodging the blasts like it was child's play.

There was no need for talk anymore, after all what use would words have when it was clear that Sans had tried to kill Undyne without any mercy?? There were no monologues, no boasting or berating the other. It was a matter of life and death...

The only problem was, that when she landed from her last dodge, Undyne lunged at you instead of Sans, clearly intending to focus on her main target. All she needed to do was grab your soul and rush through the barrier to collect the rest. With any luck, it would only take an hour or less.

With an insane cackle, she hurled a spear at you but it was blocked by a wall of bones that broke upon the impact. The monster warrior shrieked in rage and hurled a set of spears at you, but each and every one of them got blocked by yet another wall of bones.

When it became clear that Sans was going to protect you and block every attack, Undyne turned her attention to Sans, deciding to get rid of him first.

Your eyes widen due to terror when you see the two monsters lunge at each other with murderous look to their eyes, both intending to kill the other without any mercy or second thoughts. Sans and Undyne both knew that only one of them would come out of this alive and the victor would have the right to decide your fate, though you were not sure which one you should cheer on.

The blue spears and white bones fly around the barrier room, followed every now and then by Gaster blasters, yet no matter how fast Sans was or how relentless he was with his strikes, Undyne avoided every attack with dancer's grace, returning the skeletons' attacks with deadly force.

The young scientist seemed to finally have snapped out of her shocked state when she understood just what the two of you were watching.

“Stop! Undyne, Sans! T-t-this is....this is insanity! For heaven's sake you are trying to kill each other!!” Alphys yelled at the two of them but both were too consumed by their hatred and rage to listen to her. They both knew sanity and reason had left their world a long time ago.

The deadly dance between the two would have been beautiful to watch had it been a sparring match but...the knowledge that they wanted to kill the other made it horrifying sight to behold.

 _I never wanted any of this...please stop,_ you think hopelessly as you stare at the two. You had done something horrible already and the last thing you wanted was the monsters to turn on each other because of you.

Though what the two young adults had done to you was unforgivable, you also knew that in the other time-lines, Undyne and Sans had been your dearest friends and would still be if things hadn't turned out so badly.

You fall down onto the cold marble floor when the last strength leaves your body and exhaustion takes over. You tremble and shiver, your whole body hurting from pushing yourself to your physical limits.

 _What should I do?_ You think with tear stained face as you watch hopelessly the tragedy before you, your small heart hammering inside your chest. Only now did you realize that you were still holding tightly onto the long metal scissors. Your gaze darts to Alphys and for a brief moment...you consider attempting to take her life but...you couldn't move a single muscle.

The young royal scientist was standing few meters away from you and her gaze shifted from Undyne to you, then back to Undyne. She too seemed to be at loss, having no idea what she should or could do to make the situation any better. She looked sad, tormented and hopeless, as if existing in this horrible reality was painful for her as well.

You gasp loudly when Sans waves his hand, making large bones spikes emerge from the marble floor in an instant to impale Undyne who just jumps with acrobat's skill and grace, dodging every single one of the deadly razor sharp spikes before they can touch her body.

“Enough with this! I will not waste my time with you Sans! All I need is Frisk's soul to cross that barrier,” the tall blue monster woman growls when she lands and hurls a hail of spears at you, some of them materializing behind you s o that you'd be struck from all sides. If it wasn't for Sans reflexes and skill, you would have been slaughtered.

Before any of the blue magical spears could hit you, circle of bones rose around you in shape of a flower to protect you from the deadly monster queen's attacks.

Undyne growled in rage like banshee when her spears only struck the bones and was once more forced to turn his attention to Sans who was ready to do anything to protect you. The skeleton gave Undyne no breathing room, and was clearly ready to tear her apart limb by limb.

You gasp and start hyperventilating slightly when you realize that you had almost died there had Sans not protected you. Yet, as you found yourself inside the protective flower of bones, you realized that it was nothing more than a prison meant to protect you until Sans could take you home with him.

The tall walls of bone had trapped you inside them with Alphys who in moment of panic had dodged the bones sprouting from the ground inwards to join you inside the protective circle.

You could hear Undyne shrieking like a banshee as she aimed another set of spears at your protective shell, clearly fearing that you'd kill Alphys now that she was trapped with you...but you didn't even have the strength to stand up, let alone hurt someone.

You lie down on the floor and curl up slightly, trembling from fear while clutching both the scissors and the warm red scarf that had belonged to Papyrus.

Alphys watched you quietly, her expression filled with sorrow, hopelessness and soul breaking guilt, as if this was all her fault. Seeing you like this...she just couldn't endure it. If...if she had only been brave enough to demanded Undyne and Sans to act like decent human...well monster beings then maybe none of this would have come to pass. They would have slowly worked through their sorrow and come out on the other side...but she had done nothing and it had led to both of them pushing all the blame on to you.

You were not to be blamed, far from it....yet they couldn't help themselves. Sans had grown violently possessive of you and tried to alleviate the pain by taking care of you, while Undyne had just grown more malevolent each passing day

“Mom...help me, please...I want to see you again, I don't want to die or forget you,” you cry hopelessly as you try to cover your ears to block out Undyne's shrieks of pure rage and the sound of the gaster blasters going off one by one, all attempting to kill the monster queen who thirsted for your blood and soul.

The sound of the spears hitting the bone barrier over and over again in hopes of breaking it into pieces to get to you was sickening and overwhelmed you with fear.

No matter how hard you tried to ignore the sounds and block them out with your hands, you could hear her yelling, “I will kill you Frisk!” over and over until it became a mantra. She despise and loathed your entire being and it was paralyzing to realize that someone hated you this much. Undyne was fueled by her hate and was not going to be satisfied until you lied dead on the ground, along with countless other humans.

Alphys swallowed and just stood there, listening to her girl friend's insane and hate filled ravings. She had not realized just how bad things were...or how deep into madness the whole monster world had fallen into. How could they world have come to this? In what kind of a world a child is driven to kill another just to have a fleeting chance of getting home? All Frisk had wanted was to escape the two adults who were supposed to protect them.

She, Undyne and Sans were all young adults who had managed to drive Frisk to become so desperate that they had killed someone to see their family again. And now...they were going to either kill the child in revenge or lock them up, and knowing Sans do something horrible. Frisk was clearly afraid of the older skeleton brother.

What the hell was wrong with them!? Undyne and Sans had pushed all their sorrow and pain onto your small shoulders, demanding you to bear the weight that no child should carry. And what had she done? Nothing!

“No one can save us...” you could hear Alphys whisper quietly. “We've lowered ourselves to this...Frisk I'm so sorry for everything, I really am,” The researcher was clearly nearing her breaking point, unable to believe what her world had fallen into.

 

Eventually the magic holding the cage of bone together faded and it fell apart, the bones disappearing into nothingness. You feared the moment the shield fell apart that Undyne would skewer you with a javelin, but instead you saw Sans and the tall monster woman both panting and glaring daggers at each other. They were both starting to get exhausted but it was only a matter of time until one of them would make a fatal mistake.

Undyne couldn't divide her attention to you because if she did, Sans would get an easy opening now that her energy had been drained somewhat.

No, they'd have to deal with each other before deciding what to do with you.

The battle went on for what felt like an eternity to you and your heart leaped each time one was close to striking the other down. Whoever came out as a victor would decide your fate, and on some level you wished it would be Undyne, after all you had died so many times during your travels in the underground world that it would at least be familiar sensation. Instead of finding yourself back in the previous save point, there would be just nothing. The monsters would be freed, even if their freedom did cost a handful of human lives.

Then it happened.

Your watched in shock how Undyne lost her footing and balance for a fracture of a seconds thanks to the spikes that sprouted from the ground around her. Although the tall monster woman lowered her guard only for few fleeting seconds, it was all Sans needed to end this little waste of time.

A sickening sound of bone piercing metal before sinking into flesh echoed from the walls of the barrier room. The strike had been precise, as if Sans had known the exact spot where the metal plating was weak. Silence fell over the room again and you knew immediately the older skeleton brother was going to take you back home.

You start to tremble and bring your hands over mouth as you stare at the gruesome sight before you, one no child should see. Undyne was standing there with a long and thin bone spike sticking out of her chest. It had impaled her completely.

She just stood there, her golden eyes wide due to the shock that also prevented her mind from registering the pain right away. The cruel monster queen gasped for air a couple of times and lifted her gaze to you and Alphys before falling down onto her knees. Undyne gritted her sharp teeth together, only to cough up black, almost tar like blood onto the marble floor.

“U...Undyne?” you could hear Alphys whisper in terror and disbelief.

Sans just stood there and panted heavily as he eyed Undyne, who tried her all to stay with the world of the living, with disdain. The tall woman's eyes were wide as she tried to endure the horrible pain and her pupils were just thin slits.

However, Undyne was not done yet and lets out a pained howl as she ripped the spike out from her flesh, apparently it had missed her heart by an inch.

You can't help but tremble and hyperventilate when you see blackness seep into her golden eyes, a result of budding determination.

“I...I'm not done yet! Undyne hissed as she tried to get up onto her feet and get to you, but her attempts were quickly thwarted by Sans who had no mercy for those who'd try to kill or hurt you.

“Yes, you are...”

Another bone spike impaled her from behind and Undyne slumped onto the stone floor....it was both a pitiful and horrible sight to behold. Though Sans had aimed to kill her swiftly, now that she was no longer a threat, the skeleton took his time, cherishing every second.

The determined monster queen coughed up more tar like liquid and repeated, **“I'll kill you, I'll kill you...I'll kill you,”** over and over again, like a mantra in hopes that her wishes would come true.

Tears trailed down your face as you watched someone you had called a friend before drag herself towards you....her hatred and wish to kill fueling her and helping her to cling to this world.

“No you won't,” Sans stated coldly and moved his hand one last time, summoning a group of thing and long bone spikes above the monster queen. It was over before you knew it...the spikes came down, piercing Undyne from multiple points, pinning her corpse against the floor.

The sickening and dreadful silence fell over the barrier room once more and Undyne remained unmoving, her face against the floor as black blood formed a pool beneath her.

“U-U-Undyne?” Alphys asked, her voice barely more than a whisper. She looked hopeless, scared and utterly broken. She had lost her girlfriend and you feared you'd get the young scientist's hatred as well once she'd come out of her shocked state. “Please...t-t-this is not real.”

When Sans was sure his opponent was no longer with them, he slowly turned his attention back to you and Alphys who stared at Undyne with panicked look in her eyes. Her girlfriend, the person she had admired for years....was dead.

“Good riddance...You never were worthy of Papyrus' anyways,” Sans whispered as he started to walk slowly towards you two, his expression grim and stoic, yet...something was amiss. Undyne's body remained there when she was supposed to turn to dust.

“S-S-Sans,” you whisper fearfully as you just sit there, unable to move a single muscle due to the paralyzing terror.

“Now..what am I going to do with you Frisk?” Sans asked quietly, his left eye still glowing blue. “You ungrateful, selfish, foolish and lying child...I've taken care of you and protected you., yet you try to run away from me.”

He had tried to be a good caretaker and guardian to you, and even though he had needed to resort to drastic measures to keep you safe, he loved you. Yet, you had rewarded him with betrayal and lies. He had let you go outside and play, only to have you murder someone and escape.

“I will not let you out of my sight ever again Frisk...now...lets go home. You look so exhausted and need rest.”

However, the short skeleton approach came to a halt when he heard the monster queen's insane and hollow laughter fill the room. It sounded as if the woman had shed what little sanity she had had left and had become an aspect of vengeance itself.

She lifted her head slightly, her eyes pitch black as she started to lose her form...yet her determination to see you dead helped her remain. Though Undyne was pinned to the floor by the spikes, her arm had remained free and before anyone could react, the fierce warrior summoned one last blue spear and threw it towards you with immense speed. It crackled with lightning and was going to kill anything it came in contact with.

She had spent her last strength creating that magical spear, channeling all her hatred and energy into it.

The javelin shot forth like a bullet, ready to strike you down with a single strike. It looked like she no longer cared that she could not take your soul and cross the barrier. Perhaps she trusted Alphys to do it in her stead, or perhaps she just wanted you dead.

The surprise attack had taken clearly exhausted Sans completely off-guard and he had no time nor means to save you. The battle had taken its toll on him and despite being fast...he was not fast enough and all he could do was watch hopelessly how the spear traversed through the air, knowing that he could not save you.

“Frisk no!” the skeleton yelled and you screamed in terror, raising your arms in futile attempt to protect yourself from the deadly strike, but for some reason the spear never met with its target; yet a sickening sound of the spear hitting something flesh and blood echoed in the room. It was a sound you'd never forget.

Few seconds pass and when you can feel no pain, you open your eyes and lower your arms to see what had happened, only to let out a gasp of surprise and horror. You sit there in shock, unable to tear your gaze from Alphys who for some reason had stepped between you and the javelin...taking the deadly strike in your stead and thus saving your life.

Alphys looked almost surprised by her own actions but slowly a gentle and sad smile formed on her face as she touched the blue spear with her trembling hand; it had impaled her completely. Sorrow filled the young scientist's eyes and you could see her glasses on the floor, broken, the glass scattered around the frames.  
“A-a-alphys? Why?” Undyne asked in disbelief, not wanting to believe her own eyes. Why...why had she protected you?

Sans stood there just as baffled and shocked, albeit...he felt relieved to see nothing bad had happened to you.

Alphys let out a small laugh and for some reason she looked almost happy, as if she had done the right thing.

“S-s-sorry Undyne, I just....I just wanted to do something right in my life,” Alphys whispered and fell onto her knees, gasping for air as she tried to hold onto her life a little longer for Undyne's sake who was gritting her teeth, struggling to stay in the world of the living as well. However, she no longer had strength left to attack a second time.  
The determination and fire had faded from the monster queen's yellow eyes and her breathing had turned raspy. She just couldn't understand Alphys' actions, feeling betrayed and angry for a good reason.

A couple of tears rolled down Alphys face as she felt her life fade away.

“Why Alphys....when I was going to....” you asked with tears in your eyes. You had been about to kill her and for some reason, the scientist had decided to take the deadly strike to save you. Your escape would take 3 monster lives. The monster kingdom would lose a child, a queen and a scientist in one night...all because of you.

“I'm...I'm so sorry Frisk for everything we've done to you, for causing you so much pain,” Alphys cried softly and even Undyne had gone silent. She just lied there, quiet. “You always showed such kindness to us...and we treated you like this, pushing all our sorrows onto you...some friends we are,” Alphys continued and you can feel the warm tears rolling down your face.

Your whole body trembles as Alphys looks at you in comforting manner.

“I...I don't know if this is right, after all you killed MK, but...I guess...considering what we've done, you deserve going home,” Alphys said and faded to dust, leaving behind her soul that fell into your hands.

The silence didn't last long because you soon heard Undyne's insane cackle. You lifted your gaze from the soul in your hands to look at the monster woman who had clearly lost her mind.

“Oh Frisk....all you do is bring suffering to every where you go. I'm sure that even if you get home to your family, you somehow get them all dead as well, ” She laughed with black tears trailing down her face. “Hey Sans, have fun living all alone, after this no one will want anything to do with you,” Undyne cackled out loud before losing that last of her strength.

Her form fell limp and soon after it crumbled into dust that was scattered by the soft breeze that also took Alphys remains.

It was only you two now inside the barrier room and you slowly shift your gaze to meet Sans' who stood about 6 meters away from you. It takes a moment from both of you to understand and realize just what had happened, that two monsters, women you had once called friends were dead and gone. It was Alphys' selfless act and death that had shocked you both.

Sans and you both stay silent for a moment and just stare at each other, yet you can see how the skeleton's gaze slowly moves downwards and fixates on the beautiful soul in your hands and significance of it dawns upon the two of you at the exact same moment.

You had a boss monster's soul in your hands and could pass through the barrier.

Sans' eyes widened and you could see terror overwhelm him when he realized that he was going to lose you if he didn't act fast. You had never seen him so scared.

 

 _I'm going home!_ You think, realizing that all you'd have to do was get to the barrier that was few meters behind you. But, with Sans there, the distance felt longer than anything.

Sans dashed at you the moment you grasp Alphys' soul, letting it fuel you with its energy that would allow you to cross the barrier. Though you were exhausted, the knowledge that you could return home forced you to continue.

 _Please feet, just carry me few meters longer, that is all I ask,_ you pray in panic as you look at Sans who looked scared.

“Frisk, stop! Don't you dare!!” the short skeleton yells at you, his tone filled with anger, desperation and fear. When he commands you, you almost stop...almost, as if he still had some control over you.

With panicked look in your eyes, you scramble up onto your weak feet and turn around, lunging towards the barrier that shines before you.

Just when your fingertips are about to reach the shimmering magical wall, you can feel Sans cold and hard bone fingers around your wrist. He grabs it into a vice like grip, refusing to let go.

Dread flows into your soul and anxiety coils around your heart when your movement comes to a sudden halt. You were so close to freedom. Just one more meter and you'd be on the other side!

_I can't, I can't go back with him! Not now when I can return home!_

“Let go of me Sans! I'm going to leave now! Don't stop me please!” you scream hopelessly and try to wriggle free from the skeleton's hold as he tries his all to pull you away from the barrier. The skeleton's grip on your wrist was painfully tight and would definitely leave bruises.

He was holding onto you like you were his last lifeline. If he lost you, he would have lost everything! No, he refused to let you go no matter what.

The look in Sans' eyes was absolutely desperate and he was ready to do anything to keep you with him. The skeleton couldn't care less about why you had done what you had done, all that mattered to him was keeping you trapped in the underground world so that he could take care of you. He had no one else left.

Sans was stronger, taller and heavier than you and your attempts to get towards the barrier seemed futile. Inch by inch the older brother pulled you away from the glimmering and shining magical wall that would now grant you passage and most importantly prevent Sans from following.

You wail in fear and hopelessness as the barrier recedes from you as Sans slowly drags you towards the door. If you could only get to the other side, your sins would never follow you and you'd be free of this suffering; you would be able to see your parents again and recall their faces; but alas, it started to feel improbable.

 

“No no no no! I don't' want to go with you! Moooom! Help me! I want to go home!” you wail and cry, knowing that Sans was not your friend anymore and going with him meant you'd be trapped in a miserable existence. “Someone please!”

“Be quiet! I won't let you go anywhere Frisk! Your place is here with me and you know it! I refuse to lose you like I've lost everything else! ” Sans snarled, his left eye glowing blue as he yanked you backwards and took a firm grip of your arm that held the scissors so that you would not be able to hurt him or yourself.

His hard fingers dig into your skin, drawing blood that ran down your arm until it it dribbled down onto the marble floor.

“You are all I have left Frisk, you are **my** family. There are millions of people up there and you family won't need you....I refuse to let you leave me.”

“I don't want you Sans! I want my real family, all you do is hurt me!” you cry and scream, struggling like a wild animal. “Let me go! I won't let you take hold of my soul again!!” you keep yelling, but no one could hear you. No one would come. “Someone please...” you keep pleading and crying. “Toriel...Papyrus..”

Hearing you asking his dead brother to save you from him made Sans left eye glow even more intensely and he grit his teeth,trying to contain his rage.

“Frisk, I'm ready to forgive you for anything, but if I hear you say my brother's name again like that....I swear you will regret it. Just calm down and come with me. I don't care if you've killed someone...and I will protect you from those who'd want vengeance,” Sans whispered quietly with an unhinged and possessive look in his eyes.

You can't help but tremble as you look up at him.

“So, just come with me and abandon this idiotic dream of seeing your family again, ” Sans whispered coldly and to your horror you could see how desperate he was, that mixed in all that hatred, anger and madness was deep, unbearable sorrow. He was afraid, terrified even of losing you like he had lost Papyrus. “I just can't...” he whispered and released your wrist to reach towards your chest, his hand glowing blue. “I can't lose you as well, no matter what....”

He was going to tear your soul out again and take control of it forcibly.

“This will only take a moment Frisk, then we will start over and everything will be alright...I will take care of you and make sure no one will hurt you, no matter what you've done. After all, you are just a foolish child who doesn't know any better,” Sans whispered quietly, his grip on your scissor wielding arm tightening as you struggle weakly. “This won't hurt at all.”

You knew it to be lie. Every time Sans had manipulated your soul, all you had experienced was discomfort and something a kin to pain. Feeling someone else touch your very soul was something you didn't want to feel ever again and would do everything in your power to avoid.

“No! Let go of me! You can't do this to me!” you yelled in terror and tried to pull yourself free from the skeleton's hold and get as far away from him as possible.

The grin on Sans' face was hollow and borderline malevolent as he held your struggling form still.

“Oh, I'm pretty sure I can. I'm an adult and know what is best for you Frisk. You won't have to worry about anything anymore. I'll be a good big brother to you.”

“No no no no! I don't want this! Don't touch my soul, Sans!! Please!” You scream and renew your struggling, hitting Sans weakly with your free hand, but your efforts merely seem to annoy the skeleton who couldn't concentrate with you thrashing and hitting him like a small child you were. It was almost laughable.

The skeleton took a firm and painful grip of your upper arm to stop you from hitting him.

“Frisk calm down, it will only take few minutes and then...” Sans tried to say, but you refused to listen to him. Tears trailed down your face as you screamed and cried.

“Why can't you just let me go?! I could just cross that barrier and see my family again. Why are you so cruel? Why can't you let me go home?! ” you yell and struggle, trying to get free from the adult skeleton's hold. “I hate you! Why couldn't you die instead of Papyrus!”

Sans grit his teeth and you could see that he was in pain, the wounds in his soul so deep that they'd never heal.

“I. Won't. Lose. You,” Sans whispered in desperation and he looked almost panicked. He pulled you closer and you could feel fear cloud your mind. “You...you are my little buddy Frisk, the only friend I have left in this horrible world. I can't lose you as well, no matter what,” the skeleton continued and you could see how hopeless he was, how utterly lonely and scared he was.

Despite all his rage and anger...the sorrow was still the overwhelming feeling. “I promised myself to take care and look after you the moment we shook hands in that forest. So...please don't leave me...I can't....I can't be left all alone down here, Frisk. ”

You were paralyzed by fear as Sans leaned downwards. You almost wanted to believe him, to forgive him and go with him, but...you knew he was broken and that life with him would be hell. You couldn't help him.

_I can't...I'm sorry Sans..._

“Now, stay still and I will make sure I can keep you always safe and...”

However, before Sans could finish what ever he was going to say, you move on an instinct, barely giving your desperate attempt to save yourself from a horrible fate any thought.

Time stills as you drop the scissors from your other hand and grab them with your free one, only to thrust your arm up that was holding the long and rusty blades, cutting Sans straight into his blue glowing eye.

Never in your life had you heard such a terrifying scream of agony, fear and sorrow as Sans now let out. The shock and pain forced the skeleton to release his hold on your arm and you stumble backwards, straight into the barrier that let you pass.

You had no chance to say anything to Sans. There were no goodbyes or arguing...one moment you were in his hold, the next you stumbled through the portal that whisked you away in an instant, leaving whatever sins you had behind.

The world fades around you as you are swept away by the magical currents that safely carry you back to your world where no monster could follow you. As you start to lose your consciousness, the last thing you can hear...or at least you think you can hear is Sans' scream of pure hopelessness, misery and hate.

“I'm sorry Sans, I really am,” you murmur, feeling only a small pang of guilt that was soon pushed that aside by the happiness and relief you felt over escaping that hell hole. You were finally free and would get back to your family you missed so much.

“I made it,” you whisper quietly as tears of joy trail down your face. You smile and finally lose consciousness, knowing that nothing bad could happen again.

Eventually you wake up on the other side with only Papyrus' scarf and the scissors to remind you of your sins and time in the monster world.

 

The barrier room was deathly silent with a lone monster sitting before the large magical seal. The hopeless skeleton was pleading and praying in his mind that that the child who had crossed the barrier would return back to him, that they would see the error of their way and save him from a life time of loneliness. There was no telling how much time had passed and Sans didn't care, but eventually, he realized that no matter how much he wished and prayed, Frisk wasn't coming back to him and never would.

After what had felt like an eternity, Sans stood up , his form slumped and defeated. He was all alone.

“I will find you Frisk...no matter how much time it takes, I will find you and bring you back down here.”

 

* * *

 

You made your way down the mountain slowly, taking your time in the twilight that had fallen over the region. You held your bleeding arm that hurt like hell; Sans' almost claw like hand had left long and deep scars that refused to stop bleeding. You could see your home in the distance and the lights in the windows felt inviting. Soon you'd be home and you barely felt the biting autumn wind that battered your form.

“Mom...dad,” you whisper quietly as you watch your step during your descent. After all the pain and suffering you had endured, the last thing you wanted was to slip and snap your neck.

Eventually you made it to your home door. Complete darkness had fallen over the lands and you hold your breath as you knock weakly onto the door. No one answers and you knock again, louder this time...minute passes, two and finally a tall woman opens the door to you and looks at you with shocked expression on her face.

Though you had forgotten your mother's face, now that you looked at the woman before you, you recalled every little detail with clarity.

With trembling legs you swoop in to hug your mother who had tears in her eyes.

“Frisk! Where have you been? We were so worried...” she cried as she knelt down to hug you tightly, never wanting to let go.

“”I'm so sorry mom, I was lost and trapped,” you whisper as you enjoy the warm embrace that helped to chase away all the pain and sorrow you had experienced. You knew that everything was going to be alright, after all, you were home.

 

* * *

 

2 years later

 

A soft whimper was heard inside a cave room when a small human child woke up, having lost their consciousness due to the steep fall. They found themselves lying on the pile of beautiful yellow flowers that unbeknownst to them, was the single patch that remained in the underground world. The child had fallen down there and just like the ones before them, they'd find themselves trapped and unable to go home.

“Where am I? Is anyone there?” the young human asked all scared and confused as they looked around themselves, trying to see a way up, but none existed. When soft steps echoed in the cavern room, they turn their eyes to see a short figure standing some distance away from them, veiled by shadows.  
“H-h-hello?” the human child asked and was quite shocked when they saw a skeleton wearing a blue jacket step into the light that poured into the cavern from the cracks in the ceiling high above them.

Sans' expression was void of any feeling and for a moment he just stared the fallen human before him, his hands tucked deep inside his warm jacket's pockets. It was almost impossible to tell what he was thinking.

“A-a-a skeleton? Who..who are you? Please don't hurt me!!” the child pleaded, their tone filled with fear, yet, when the short skeleton merely gave them a small and friendly, albeit a sad smile, they seemed to calm down a bit. The strange skeleton hardly looked threatening, even if his smile was rather hollow and void of happiness.

 _Such a scared and defenseless human,_ Sans found himself thinking and for a fraction of a second he wondered if this was right, but...his mind was set. _You are not Frisk...I need to get my little buddy back no matter what. I've waited so long and now you are finally here...._

He had waited for this moment so long, coming to this spot every single day for the past to years to see if another human or even better, you, had fallen down. Somehow, he had kept the hope alive that you'd see the error of your ways and return.

He had waited 2 long years wishing and praying that you'd return, yet no one had heeded his wishes and now that this stranger of a child had fallen down to their world, he had finally a chance to see you again. After what had felt like a life time of suffering, his prayers had finally been answered.

“Hey there, little buddy, are you hurt?” Sans asked with a comforting smile and almost felt bad when the child adamantly shook their head. It would have been easier for him to justify his actions had they broken an arm or a leg.

“No, I'm quite alright,” the human child said with a smile, showing no longer any fear, as if they considered Sans to be their friend already. “You kinda look a skeleton. A...are you a monster?”

 _So much like Frisk, never afraid..._ Sans thought as his smile widened _. I'm...I'm going to see them again. I will no longer need to be alone._

“Heh, I guess I am one,” Sans almost laughed and could barely contain the joy he felt now that he understood he was going to have Frisk back. He had waited so long for this day. The soul crushing suffering he had endured for two long years was finally at its end.

Seeing Sans become happy made the child smile, thinking that the monster was glad to hear they were ok.

“Neat! I've never seen a monster before,” the human said all excited but Sans wasn't really listening to them anymore. Why should he?

“....Hey, actually could I borrow something of yours for a moment? I'll let you have it back when I no longer need it...”

The child looked a bit unsure for a flash of a second before they smiled warmly at Sans who answered the smile in kind.

“Umm, sure?” the human said after a moment of consideration, unsure what they had that the skeleton could want.

“Heh, thanks kid, this won't hurt at all,” Sans whispered with a friendly smile on his face as he subtly moved his hand, summoning a bone spike behind the child. “It will be over before you know it. This won't hurt at all.”

Of course it had been a lie.

 

* * *

 

Sans stood before the barrier, his eyes pitch black and expression void of any emotion. In his hand, the short skeleton held a beautiful and gentle human soul, but it was nowhere near as radiant as Frisks' whose soul had been the most precious, beautiful and soft thing Sans had ever seen or held. He wanted to hold it in his hands again and force his control over it. He'd keep it safe from all harm in the world and thus protect you till the end of time.

Unlike Undyne, he had no interest in collecting 7 souls, oh no, he'd be content having just one. He was going to cross the barrier and bring you back home.

After Frisk's escape, Gaster had graced him with one last visit. He had told him the reason for your sudden desire to escape; the loss of you memories.  Frisk had left because they had feared Sans would take away all the memories if he learned just what forcing a control over a soul caused.  Well, now that he knew that little fact...he was definitely going to take everything out of it.

“Hey Frisk...” Sans whispered quietly as a malicious, macabre and possessive grin formed on his face as he pulled his hood up. “I'm coming to take you back home.”

With that....Sans grasped the soul and stepped forth, crossing the barrier into human world.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mwahaha, only the epilogue left.


	8. The end

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I finished an Undertale story.

2 years later

 

"See you on Monday Frisk, have a nice weekend!"

You couldn't help but smile widely and turn around to walk backwards for a moment as you waved goodbye to your school friends who were all dispersing one by one into various directions until you were all alone.

“You too!” you reply with a bright smile and stop waving only when all of your friends have disappeared from your view. “...you too,” you repeat quietly, the smile on your face dying slightly when you turn around to follow a small yet well formed trail that would lead you through the woods; it was a shortcut one that would take you back home in minutes, but going through the dark woods always made you somewhat nervous and agitated.

During the warm and bright summers the forest wasn't really that bad, but when fall and winter started to settle in, the woods quickly turned gloomy and dark, reminding you of the dark forest in the underground world where you had encountered Sans the first time. Each time you found yourself in the woods after dark, you couldn't help but think of Sans no matter how hard you tried not to. The goofy smile, the handshake, all the wonderful puns....they came back in an instant, along with all the horrible and nightmarish memories that also included him.

 _Why does it have to be so rainy and windy today?_ you sigh inside your mind and adjust the hood of your yellow raincoat a bit to protect yourself better from the cool wind and soft dribble. The weather made the dark forest look even less welcoming, but it was the quickest way back home.

Fall had arrived a good while back and with it had come the biting winds, heavy rains and steadily lowering temperature, and even though you found Fall to be extremely beautiful time of the year with the trees gaining their autumn foliage and all...the darkening days still heralded the approaching Winter that only brought back bad memories, memories you would rather forget completely if possible.

The heavy snow and dark, almost completely sunless days made you think of Snowdin and Sans whom you had left there all alone.

“I wish it was spring already,” you mutter and kick a small pebble that happened to be in your way as you slowly make your way deeper into the forest.

Living in rural area had both its benefits and downsides.

One of the good aspects was how you had plenty of space and places to play in, along with the peace and quiet that had helped you recover during the past few years. The downside was that it was quite a long walk to school and to your friends' houses. Needless to say, your parents were not too fond of letting you leave their view anymore.

 _There is no way Sans will ever find me here, even if he somehow makes it out...and he can't_ , _not without a human soul,_ you ponder and find yourself thinking of the older brother once again. You shake your head and quickly banish the unpleasant thoughts. You had tried avoiding the painful memories involving the underground world and the possessive older brother who had made your life a nightmare.

When your eyes spy a small puddle near the road, you can't help but direct your steps towards it. Even though you had grown a bit during the past few years, you were still a child at heart and couldn't resist the urge to pick up a long stick and poke the thick mud with it for a moment, before eventually stepping into it with your rubber boots that kept your feet warm and dry.

“Everything will be alright, Frisk...” you murmur softly to yourself when you pull your mud covered boot free and instead draw on the surface with the long stick. The water moved and rippled gently and in almost calming manner. _Sans will never find me...I am safe._

However, you instantly tense up and lift your gaze from the puddle when you hear a twig snapping in twine somewhere nearby. Your small heart starts to beat rapidly in fear when you realize that the sharp sound was eerily similar to the one you had heard back in the underground forest...when you had met Sans for the first time, back when he had been ok.

Your lower lip starts to tremble and you find yourself paralyzed by dread, its cold tendrils taking a suffocating grip of your heart almost instantaneously. In your terror, you quickly find yourself starting to hyperventilate, unable to get your breathing under control. However, you quickly relax and let out a sigh of relief when you see a large brown rabbit darting from the undergrowth an dashing past you. It looked like you had scared it just as much as it had scared you.

Though your heart was still hammering against your chest and adrenaline coursed through your veins, you couldn't help but let out a bit embarrassed and happy laugh. Oh you were so relieved to learn it had not been Sans but some cute little rabbit.

Even after 2 long years, time that felt like an eternity to a child, you still feared that Sans was going to appear out of nowhere to grab and drag you back to the underground world, even if that fear had subsided a bit during the past few months

"You are being stupid Frisk," you chide yourself and throw the long stick away, only to tense up again when you sense a presence. There was someone standing directly behind you, you were absolutely sure of it, inches away from you. You stand still for a moment and when the sensation doesn't go away, you can feel the paralyzing fear seep back in, filling you up until all you knew was pure, primal fear.

The forest had become eerily quiet. Aside from the sound of the soft dribble, it was deathly silent. Birds were gone and even the wind had died down.

You swallow and consider of just dashing away, but if it indeed was Sans, running would do you no good.

 _It can't be him Frisk, it just can't,_ you think in terror and can barely control your body. After what felt like an eternity, you slowly turn your head to see who it was, 100% certain that you'd see the short skeleton in blue jacket standing there, but all you see is the empty road in the darkening day. There was no one there.

You just stand there for a moment, dumbfounded and confused, scanning the woods with your eyes to see any sign of life, yet no matter how hard you tried to find the source for the presence, you can't.

“Am I going mad?” you wonder out loud and can feel anxiety take hold of your mind again. You could swear there had been someone behind you, their presence all too familiar. _Is it my overactive imagination? Could it really be just that?_

You could still recall the way your parents had reacted when you had returned home after being away almost 4 months. They had been ridden with fear, anxiety and hopelessness the entire time, forced to live in a hell of not knowing what had happened to you.

The whole town had been looking for you. Everyone had searched far and wide for weeks without a single clue to your whereabouts and many had been absolutely certain you had been kidnapped or worse. Eventually, people had dropped from the search operation one by one, their own lives taking the first priority. In the end, your parents had been left all alone in their fear and sorrow. Not even police had found any clue or incident related to your disappearance.

Though the reunion had been joyous and filled with tears of happiness and relief, the questions had followed almost instantly. “Where were you? Who took you? Who hurt you?” Yet, you knew you could never give any answers. What happened underneath Mount Ebott would always remain there.

No matter how many times the questions were asked by either your parents, police or a child psychiatrist, you refused to give any proper answers. All you were willing to say was that you had been lost for the past months.

Of course no one had believed you, how could they when everyone could see the horrible claw mark and the bruises Sans had left you with? Your parents and the police wanted the truth but you had refused to give them anything. They had tried all kinds of tricks and methods to get the information out of you, but you had refused to play along, rewarding their questions with only silence.  
No one, absolutely no one was going to learn about what had happened to you.

 _Why tell anything when it is clear as day no one is going to believe me,_ you pondered as you continued your journey through the woods.

Everyone would think you to be either insane or lying if you started to tell tales about skeletons and malevolent talking flowers. The best case scenario was that the adults would believe the monsters to be metaphors for something else, something you had created to handle a traumatic experience. But, the more you would tell, the more questions they'd ask.

  
Eventually the case had been left shrouded in mystery because you had returned unharmed, even if all of the questions remained unanswered. For a time your parents had been just happy and content with the fact that you had returned to them with just few bruises and scratches, believing that you'd tell them everything when you were ready. But, as time passed and you remained silent, the unanswered questions started to haunt your parents, especially your mother. Every now and then they tried to pry information out of you, but you never gave any, no matter how much it hurt both you and your parents.

Both of them kept a strong appearance during day but when evening came, so did their worries and fears. You couldn't count the times you had heard your mother sobbing during night because you couldn't trust her with your burdens. She probably felt like she had failed you in every manner possible and at times you had wanted to tell her everything about Sans, but knew better not to.

You were a child, but you were not stupid. Someone of your age knew well enough that there were no “fantasy” monsters like skeletons or malicious fish monsters like Undyne. Only real monsters existed and ironically enough, in the end Sans had turned out to be one.

The only mementos of your time with Sans, Papyrus and the rest was the younger brother's scarf and the rusty scissors that had both become extremely important to you. They served as constant reminders of what you had experienced, of what you had done. They made sure you'd never forget the sins you had managed to escape.

Your mother had tried to throw the filthy red scarf away since it constantly reminded her of your mysterious disappearance, and because no matter how hard she tried to rinse it clean, the grey dust didn't seem to come off. You, nor your parents would never forget the hell you had raised when you had caught her trying to throw Papyrus' scarf away. Most of the time you were your usual calm and happy self, but if someone even dared to think of touching or throwing the two items away, you'd make sure they would never even think of touching them again.

Despite your silence, you had voiced out one wish you asked to be heeded, and that was for your family to move away from Mount Ebott. Everyone could see that just merely looking at the mountain gave you anxiety. There was nothing special about the mountain and it wasn't even popular with hikers. It had been searched thoroughly after your disappearance and nothing had been found there. When they had asked why you'd want that, all you said was,

“ _ **I don't want to go missing again.”**_

Those words had been enough for your family to pack their things and relocate to another town. It didn't take long from your parents to find a new home in a rural area far away from the cursed mountain. It really had been a relief to get away from the Ebott and not having to eased your fears.. The more kilometers you got between yourself and Sans the better.

The knowledge that the skeleton was trapped beneath it, waiting for a chance to get out made you extremely nervous and scared and you had seen nightmares of the older brother for a long time.

Though you had not told anything about Sans to your parents, they knew the name very well...mostly because you constantly screamed it during your sleep and when you woke up, covered in sweat, your body ridden with anxiety and paralyzing dread. You couldn't count the nights you had wept and sobbed in terror thanks to the vivid nightmares that were more like real memories.

Your parents had asked around, but no one seemed to know what or who this “Sans” was.

You pick up a yellow maple leaf and turn it slowly in your hand to inspect the beautiful colors, eventually letting it simply fall onto the wet forest floor to join the rest. Soon the rain would turn to snow and all of the pretty leaves would be covered in white.

With a soft sigh you peel back your rain coat's sleeve to reveal the long scar marks that decorated your skin, the ones Sans had given you. You trail your fingers along the marks that would never fade away completely.

_I wish these would just disappear. I want to forget him completely...I want Sans to be erased from my mind._

You close your eyes and can instantly see the expression on Sans' face, the rage mixed with fear, loneliness and desperation. He had been willing to do anything to keep you down there with him, even kill Undyne who had tried to bring justice to the Monster kid by killing you.

Your actions were irredeemable and had no doubt rewarded you with the whole society's hatred. Because of you, the royal couple, Undyne, Alphys and Papyrus were dead. The monsters would tear you apart limb from limb if you returned there.

"I'm sorry everyone," you whisper and apologize to your friends. Sometimes the guilt was eating away at your mind and made life hard, but you continued living no matter what. “I never wanted things to turn out like this.”

At times you did wonder what had happened to Sans after you had left, but you tried not to dwell on it too much. You were never going back down there and with luck, they'd never get out during your life time. You had decided that the moment you were old enough and had the funds, you'd move to another country to make sure you got as much distance between yourself and the mountain as possible.

You find yourself speeding up your steps when the rain starts to grow heavier. The day had turned into an evening a good while ago and it was getting darker and darker each passing minute. It was late because you had participated in after school activities and no doubt your parents were waiting already. After your disappearance, they had understandably been very worried and didn't want to let you out of their sight, desiring to know exactly where you were every minute of the day.

Speaking of which.... you pull out your phone, only to gasp in terror when you see 3 missed calls from your mother, all about 5 minutes ago or so.

You knew your parents tracked your location through the phone and you didn't blame them for it. If being tracked meant you could visit your friends without your mom and dad escorting you, so be it.  
"Mom is going to kill me," you mutter, knowing the amount of yelling you were going to receive for not answering or at least texting them. It was only about a kilometer walk back home, but you decided to call anyway to potentially alleviate some of the yelling, only to have your call go unanswered.  
"Strange.." you mutter quietly, only to shrug and put your phone away in the rain. _Well they can't blame me for not trying to contact them._

You skip along the leaf covered forest trail that snaked through the thicket towards your home and soon enough, you see a wooden house peek from behind the trees, the lights on, smoke coming from the chimney. No doubt your mother had made you dinner as usual. Sans had really been a lousy cook, getting something from Grillby's if he couldn't bother making anything himself.

 _Why do I keep thinking about him? It has been two years already and he will never find me. I am free,_ you think all frustrated.

 _I will_ _**never** _ _see him again._

 

You hurry to the door, almost completely soaked despite having a raincoat. You quickly unlock the door and pull it open, stepping inside and taking the rain coat off before you even glanced at the interior

"Mom, Dad, I'm home! Sorry that I didn't notice your call, I tried to....." you start but the words die on your lips when you saw the scene that had awaited to be discovered by you. The hopeless and shocking vision etched itself into your mind, making sure you'd never forget it. The entry opened almost straight into the living room that had turned into a gruesome and grotesque scene of murder.

You end up standing in the door way, unable to move or say anything as you hopelessly stare at your father who was lying in a pool of his own blood, still fresh, yet most of it had drained onto the mat and between the floorboards. Any normal child would have run and you would have done the same if it had not been for one single detail that made your eyes widen and your heart race. Fear and anxiety coiled around your heart, preventing you from running. All you could feel was despair.

Your lower lip starts to tremble when you see a long bone spike stuck on your father's back, having probably wounded him fatally.

There was blood everywhere. It was a sight no child should see.

The trembling spreads to your whole body and you would have fallen onto your knees had you not been holding the door handle. The lifeless glassy eyes stared into nothingness, yet the expression of disbelief and fear persisted on his face.

Every cell in your body told you to flee, to get out of the house and run as far as you could, but something prevented you from doing so. Somehow you just knew that you were not going to escape the fate that awaited you. Your sins were crawling on your back, whispering that he was waiting for you.

 _Dad? No no no no...._ you think in terror, feeling nothing but despair and hopelessness. It seemed like you had lived with your parents on borrowed time, and now that it was up, it had been them who had paid the price.

 _Where is mom?_ You think and look around, but she, nor the intruder was nowhere to be seen. _Please...let her be alright...I need to see her._

You step forward and start approaching the stairs almost as if you were spellbound. Each step you took made you more anxious than the one before, and you knew that the person ...no, monster who had done this was very aware that you were there. He was waiting for you.

 _I guess I was not alone in the woods after all,_ you think as you make your way to the stairs, dreading what you were going to find once you ascended them.

Perhaps on some naive level, you hoped to see your mother alright and well, yet deep down you knew that things were not ok, far from it.

“Mom?” you ask quietly when you come to the start of the stairs, but there is no one to answer you. The second floor was dark, yet somehow you just knew that what you were looking for was up there.

The floor boards creak underneath your feet as you ascended the stairs and head towards your room that was at the end of the hallway. The door was slightly ajar and you could see light coming from there, shining like a beacon for you to head towards. With pounding heart you make it to the door and push it open.

The view that opened before your eyes filled you with despair, hopelessness, guilt and sorrow. You wanted to cry out in despair and fear, but the primal terror silenced you effectively and the dread's paralyzing grip made sure you wouldn't be able to run anywhere.

Before you stood an all too familiar figure in blue hoodie with his back turned to you, a figure you had hoped to never see again. He was standing before your mother's corpse, her face turned away from yours so that you couldn't see the expression on her face.

 _Sans...why.._. you want to say, but can't because your voice fails you. How had he found you? And more importantly, how had he found his way out of the underground world?

Sans just stood there, staring at your mother's cooling body with little to no emotion in his eyes. He had wrapped Papyrus' scarf around his neck and though it was red, you could see it being darker shade at than usual; it had drained tons of blood.

"Oh, there you are, Frisk," Sans says quietly and doesn't even bother to turn and face you. You both knew there was no escape for you anymore, that he was going to do whatever he wanted with you. "For a moment I wondered if you had sensed me back in the woods and wouldn't come here....not that it would have changed anything in the end. I would have found you eventually."

Why couldn't he just take you in the forest. Why did your parents have to suffer like this? You could hear Undyne's laughter in your ears and the cruel and malevolent words she had uttered before her death. _**I'm sure that even if you get home to your family, you somehow get them all dead as wel**_ _l._

You can't find any words but Sans doesn't seem to mind as he just stares at your mother's corpse, as if drinking in the view, wanting to etch it into his mind so that he'd never forget it. He had finally managed to erase the two people you had cried after all the time. You had no one else now...he was your only family.

"I came to get the 2 things that matter to me, Papyrus scarf..." Sans said and turned around slowly to face you, his eyes slightly narrow due to the hideous and insane grin on his face. You trembled almost violently when you saw his blue jacket covered in your parents' blood, some of it had landed onto the thick white fur lining of his hood. “and you...”

There was a scar on Sans' face right where you had hit him with the scissors. His left eye was blue, and the light bled out of the scar, flaming in an eerie manner. It looked like both of you had a permanent mark left by the other.

He looked absolutely malevolent and and there was nothing friendly about his smile. It was cold, macabre and malicious, yet his expression softened somewhat when he took a good look at you, realizing just how much he had longed to see you again.

"Frisk...I've missed you so much," Sans said with an absolutely unhinged and possessive look in his eyes. He wanted to hold you and never let go, to take care of you till the end of the world. After two long years of not seeing you, he was feeling pure euphoria now that he knew he was going to take you with him. "Come here, I will take you home with me and make sure that you will never leave me again. I'll even forgive you for all the stupid decisions you've made. "

  
"M-m-mom," you whisper in horror when Sans steps slightly aside and lets you see what he had done. There were numerous bone spikes sticking out of her, making her body remind you of a pincushion. Compared to your mother, your father had experienced relatively painless death. Apparently Sans had poured all of his hate onto the person you had cried and longed after the most. The long spikes had impaled her completely, pinning her against the wooden floor.

Suddenly, to your horror you realized that had you been just a tad faster, you would have made it back home before Sans....before he....

Maybe if you had talked with him, your parents could still be alive!

 _Is this my fault? Could I have prevented this?_ It felt like your soul was crushed underneath the guilt that overwhelmed you. You had never told about Sans to anyone. No doubt your parents had died in horror, having no idea who or what the skeleton was.

 _I...I've caused everyone's death. Every one around me is dead because of me._ The realization hit you painfully hard. One could argue that it was a series of unfortunate events that had led to this tragedy, but you felt like you had caused all of this. You wished you had never argued with your parents and made your way to the mountain in the first place.

Deep down you knew that the outcome wouldn't have changed even if you had made it back in time, but it was a cold comfort.

“I've erased all things binding you to this place, dealt with everyone who'd keep you from me. Now I am the only one who is willing and ready to take care of you, little buddy,” Sans whispered and he seemed to calm down. His voice became void of emotion and the look in his eyes turned cold. “Everything will finally be ok. We can both be happy.”

Your legs tremble and after few fleeting seconds, you finally lose all strength and fall down onto the floor, unable to tear your gaze from your mother's lifeless body.

A heart breaking wail of despair and sorrow fills the quiet house and you can feel large and warm tears trail down your face. You find yourself repeating your “Mom” and “dad” over and over again along with “I'm sorry,” begging forgiveness from your deceased loved ones.

Sans merely frowned and stared at you with unforgiving look in his eyes. Your cries didn't move him in any manner, if anything, they seemed to annoy the skeleton to no end.

"All of this is your fault you know. You should have stayed with me," Sans said quietly as he started to approach you slowly in a menacing manner.

You gaze up at the skeleton who was approaching you slowly and suddenly you are overwhelmed by fear that tells you to run. It was as if the spell that had compelled you to find your mother and Sans had been broken. Now that you knew there was nothing else to save but your own life, you could finally act. A gasp of terror escapes your lips and the cold dread coils tighter around your heart when you see Sans reaching towards your face with his hand.

All you knew was that if you let the skeleton take you, you'd never escape him and you'd spent the rest of your natural life underneath the mountain where everyone loathed you.

_I can't return down there, I cant...not after what I've done!_

“No! Stay away from me! I'm not going down there!” you scream in terror and try to dash into the hallway and down the stairs towards the door, but Sans was faster. Your escape came to a halt before you could get more than three meters away from him.

A whimper and cry of pure terror and pain escapes your lips when you feel Sans' bony hand grab a handful of your thick dark brown hair.

“You are not going anywhere...” Sans said coldly, his voice barely more than a whisper as he dragged your struggling form back towards the room where your mother's dead body lied. You struggle and wail in fear as you try to get Sans to release his grip on your hair. It hurt so much.

“Let go of me Sans! I don't want to go with you!!” you cry and wail hopelessly, letting out a loud whimper when Sans shoves you forward so that you fall painfully onto the floor some distance away from your mother.

"Sans..." you whimper quietly between the sobs when the older brother towers over you in foreboding manner. You swallow an sob quietly before the skeleton who stared down at you. “Please go away. I don't want to go down there with you....I don't...please....”

“Hush, Frisk, you won't need to worry about anything anymore,” Sans murmured, his expression softening somewhat when he kneels down to take gentle hold of your face with both hands. “There is no other way. I will take care of you, after all, you are all I have left now...you are my family”

 _Someone please help me,_ you plead and tremble, forced to look into Sans' eyes. _Papyrus...anyone..._

"It is alright, little buddy. Everything will be ok now that I have you back," Sans said and felt your face with his hard, bony hands. "You are just a stupid child who doesn't know any better...I will make sure nothing bad will ever happen to you."

You almost forget to breathe when Sans wraps his arms around you and pulls you into a hug. Your mind goes blank and you are on a verge of hyperventilating when you feel your mother's still fresh blood seep into your clothes and dirty your face and hair.

 _This has to be another nightmare, it just has to_. The skeleton's embrace was uncomfortably tight, as if he feared that you were going to vanish into thin air. _Someone please wake me up._

"I waited so long in the ruins....for someone to fall down and grant me a chance to see you again," Sans whispered and kept tightening his hold on you to the point his embrace was tight enough to be painful. "I visited the spot where you fell down each day for the past two years, praying for a miracle that someone would come and allow me to find you. After 2 long years, my prayers were finally answered. I've searcher for you far and wide...but I knew we'd meet again."

 

Why couldn't you just stop existing all together and join your family in some other time-line? You didn't want to be trapped in this terrible world.

Sans had killed someone, probably some child and taken their soul to cross the barrier.

"I have no interest in collecting 7 souls or breaking the barrier, no...all I wanted was to find you and bring you back home. You are the only family I have left in this world...and now that I've erased all the unwanted people, I am the only one you have."

You were on the verge of fainting. The scent of the blood was nauseating and you could feel more of the thick red liquid drain into your clothes. There was so much of it on Sans' jacket...

"You are the reason I lost my family and friends Frisk....so I thought taking away yours would make us even. If you had never fallen down to our world, none of this would have come to pass...but even though you are a bashful and selfish child, I will look after you and take care of you," Sans murmured as he held you in almost affectionate manner now. “We just need to ensure you won't hurt anyone else ever again.....”

Your eyes widen in terror and pure primal fear overwhelms your mind when you feel Sans press his hand against your back. Soft glow of red fills the room as the skeleton pulls your beautiful soul out, ready to turn it blue for good. The sensation made you recall all the painful memories from 2 years ago you had wished to forget. The memories flashed before your eyes.

You fall limp in Sans' embrace but he is quick to support you. You couldn't move a single limb and it was an absolutely terrifying sensation. Without your soul, your body was an empty husk made of flesh and blood.

It felt like Sans was slowly taking the control away from you until you were nothing more than a broken doll. You were going to be his perfect little marionette doll who'd dance to his tune and obey every order..

"Sans, please no," you whimper weakly in the skeleton's embrace even though you know it is useless to plead and beg. Sans was too lost in his sorrow to listen to you. You were never going to be free of him, never escape his hold. “I don't want to forget my family...” you cry, warm tears falling down your face, but you couldn't feel them.

"Hush now Frisk, this will be over soon and then you'll be free from all the unnecessary memories filling your little head,” Sans murmured softly as he held your weakened and utterly helpless form.

He held your precious red soul gently in his hand, his eyes gleaming possessively as he admired it. You could feel how the skeleton touched your soul feather lightly with his finger tips, yet each touch felt like excruciatingly painful stab wound into your mind and soul.

“It is as beautiful as I remembered it to be...” the skeleton murmured softly as he let his power flow into your soul, slowly taking control over it and thus you. Sans then slowly closed his fingers around it and you let out a whimper of discomfort. The world was quickly fading away around you.

Memories of the first time Sans had done this to you flashed before your eyes, but this time, it was slightly different. The short skeleton didn't stop until your red soul was all blue and the process irreversible. Your soul would be his to control till the end of time if he wanted.

You sob quietly as you try to hold onto the precious memories of your loved ones, but one by one, they turn foggy and eventually you can't recall anyone's faces, voices or names, only the love you had received from them.

How could Sans have turned this malicious, possessive, manipulative and cruel in his grief and sorrow? He had truly lost himself and become damaged beyond repair.

You had loved and missed your parents enough to be ready to gamble away your life just to have a chance of seeing them again, but now even they had become mere shadows in your mind with no faces or names.

It was so painful to lose all the memories you held dear. You could still recall and feel all the love and affection you had received, it was simply everything personal that was gone. What made it all the more heart breaking was the fact that your mother lied mere meters away from you....yet her face was turned away from you.

 

You grasp the bloodied blue fabric of Sans' hoodie in a desperate attempt to plead him to stop, but he doesn't even notice. You wanted to cry, beg and scream, but you couldn't produce any sort of a sound.

Finally, after what had felt like an agonizingly long time, Sans releases his hold on the now blue soul and lets it return to your body just when you are about to lose consciousness.  
“There, that wasn't so scary was it?” Sans asked almost affectionately as he pet your head, holding your trembling and limp form close. You were in shock and could now feel the warm and wet tears traveling down your face. The scent of blood was nauseating and you wanted it all to just end.

"Lets go home, Frisk" the short skeleton says after a moment and picks you up onto his arms, carrying you away from your mother whose face you'd never recall again.

He walked through the door and the two of you found yourselves at the base of mount Ebbot.

 

The climb up the mountain was long and arduous in the bad weather. The visibility was practically zero thanks to the nightfall, the pouring rain and the biting wind that battered your bodies, yet Sans pressed on, carrying your half conscious body like it weighted nothing to him. He was driven by madness, not even considering staying in the world above.

In his unhinged mind, Sans believed that the only place the two of you belonged in was the Snowdin village. He couldn't leave the house he had built with Papyrus....it was his home and yours. He couldn't care less about the world above the other monsters so wished to reach. It had no value whatsoever to the short skeleton.

You weep quietly against Sans' bloodied jacket and he glances down at you. Some of the blood had been washed away by the rain abut there was still so much of it left. The possessive skeleton did his best to shield you from the cold Fall rain and wind, but he wasn't really that concerned about having you suffer the cold for few moments longer. Soon he'd tuck you in in warm bed and should fever rise, he'd nurse you back to health.

You were delirious and shivering, sobbing and muttering few words every now and then.

“Shh, shh, it will be alright Frisk, just a while longer and we will be home,” the unhinged skeleton whispered, grinning at you, his left eye glowing menacingly.

Finally, you two reached the spot where you had fallen down and Sans stops for a moment, peering down into the darkness. You trembled in your half conscious state, knowing that if you fell down there again, you'd never get back up.

"Please...don't, I don't want to go down there," you beg and plead, sobbing quietly, your still so small hands grasping Sans's wet and bloody jacket. “Sans...Don't take me down there. Everyone hates me."

Sans just chuckled softly as he held you in bridal style, nuzzling your forehead in loving manner.

"Sorry, but your home is with me now Frisk...I will look after you from now on...you are mine...all mine. You will never leave me again," the unhinged skeleton whispered and without a warning, he jumped down with you, casting a gravity attack to slow down the fall.

The fall felt like like a descent to hell that you would never escape. Finally Sans's feet hit the scorched flower bed. There was not a single yellow flower left in the underground world.

"We are finally home, Frisk."

Your fate had been sealed. You'd live the rest of your days with Sans who had a total control over your soul. In the end, you had lived with your parents for 2 whole years, healing and recovering, only for Sans to swoop in like a hurricane and destroy everything...ripping open the wounds that had started to scar, making sure they'd never heal again.

Being forced to face the horrible reality and fate drained what little strength had remained in your body and you fell unconscious in Sans hold who didn't seem to mind and merely headed towards the ruins.

“You don't need to worry about anything anymore Frisk,” Sans said darkly as he carried your weak and drained form like it was the most precious thing to him in the world. “I forgive you for everything...as long as you don't leave me,” he continued and found himself tightening his hold on you, almost fearing that you'd disappear again. “And you can't...you will never leave me again.”

Thanks to the cold and your soaked clothes, the fever started to settle in, leaving you with days of delirious nightmares and hallucinations about everyone you had hurt, everyone you had killed.

But it was going to be alright, after all, you had Sans to take care of you.

 

* * *

 

You sat inside Papyrus' old room and just stared at the wall, your expression void of any feeling. Your hair had grown somewhat during your time in the underground world. The passage of time had no meaning and the days had just melded together. Had it been months? Years? You couldn't really tell.

All you knew, was that when you had been pulled from your fever dreams, life with Sans was all you had. There was nowhere to go and Sans had made sure his control over you was absolute. You couldn't do anything he didn't want you to. There was a strict set of rules you were unable to break no matter what.

The possessive skeleton rarely let you out, nor did you really want to go out because every time someone looked at you, all you saw was hatred for your actions.

This was punishment for killing Monster kid. One villager had thrown a rock at you, but it had been the first and last time because what Sans had done to the assailant had not been pretty. Thankfully it had not led to death, but it was clear Sans had become an outcast, hated despised everyone. No one wanted to deal with him, but he didn't seem to mind, after all you were all he needed.

At times you dreamed that the villagers would just....burn the whole house down and free you from the cage it had become, but it was a foolish dream.

You hear the door open and turn your head to see Sans walk in with a steaming cup of tea in his hands. You were the skeleton's pet and a doll he played house with. He took care of you and made sure nothing bad would ever happen to you. You were the only family he had, and thus more precious than anything in the world.

You look at Sans with sad eyes. You could always feel his presence no matter how hard you tried to block it out or ignore. Even if he was on the other side of the monster world, you could feel him, what he felt and wanted you to do. The connection between you two would never be broken.

You were pretty sure you were slightly taller than Sans now, but....it didn't really change anything. You were still his human, his little buddy.

"Hi Sans..." you whisper quietly when the skeleton walks over to you and hands you the steaming cup of tea to warm yourself inside the cool house.

Since Sans was the only living being you saw, what was the point of not talking to him?

"How are you doing today Frisk?" Sans asked as he sat across you, grinning at you.

After few seconds of silence you lower your gaze to stare at the surface of the tea and could see a cube of sugar slowly melting inside.

“Good...better now that you are here,” you finally reply quietly when you can feel Sans get agitated by your slow answer. Your reply seems to brighten the skeleton's mood and he watched how your brought the steaming cup of tea to your lips, sipping the sweet and warm liquid.

You were Sans' pet, one he loved and took care of...one he didn't have to punish because you couldn't do anything he didn't like. His control over you was absolute, as absolute as the possessive love he felt for you.

You place the empty cup on a table next to you and watch how Sans stands up and hugs you tightly, as if wanting to make sure you really were there.

“Promise me you'll never disappear, Frisk, that you won't turn to dust like everyone else...”

Your eyes were dead and lacked feeling.

 _Even if I die I remain._ It was a horrible thought.

“I won't,” you whisper and can feel the broken skeleton tremble, afraid that you were going to leave him again despite everything he had done to make sure you'd stay with him. You almost pitied Sans but the whispering command in your soul shred what little pity you had.

“I won't leave you Sans. You are the only one I have left....my family.”

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pretty hopeless and cruel ending I know.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not too happy with this to be honest, would have worked much better as a shorter story, but I just didn't know what I should have cut.


End file.
